Justify the Means
by Rae Solo
Summary: Crystal is the only member of her adopted family that isn't taken to a ranch when the Desians attack Palmacosta. Now she'll do anything to get them out, including make a deal with the devil himself. But everyone knows the devil never keeps his word...
1. Chapter 1

I'm not entirely happy with this beginning, and I might revise it at some point. But for now I wanted to put it out here and get some feedback. Hope you like it!

Read and Review Please!

**Broken Memories**

**Chapter One**

Crystal's last move was over, but the battle was not. She may have been too weak to strike again, but he clearly wasn't. He was bleeding from a wound on his side and a deep gash on his forearm. She had numerous cuts and bruises, and blood was dripping from her mouth.

The battle had taken its toll on her, and she was so weak that she was only on her feet because he held her against the wall. They were outside his ranch, and he had just slammed her head into the wall. Her vision blurred for a moment, and she glared at him through the haze.

She knew it would come to this from the moment it began. This confrontation was expected by both parties. She, Crystal, had planned this from the beginning, and she could tell he was expecting it as well when she came to him.

Magnius.

The night air was cool on her skin as his axe tore through her clothes, but she hardly noticed. His sharp blade was close enough to her neck that she could feel its cold, sleek sharpness cutting her again.

He looked right in her eyes, his scarlet hair brushing against her face. Crystal tried to remain unemotional, but that was nearly impossible-she seethed every time she looked at him. Her clothes were nothing but ribbons at this point, and cuts and bruises decorated her body.

"You know I don't want to do this, Crystal." He purred, stroking the side of her face gently, as a lover might.

"Don't touch me, you bastard." She growled.

His false sympathy quickly faded, replaced by anger once again. The hand on her face quickly pulled back and slapped her, and she hit the ground hard. She only remained there for a brief moment before Magnius picked her up by the throat and held her against the wall again.

"You little-"

"I don't think you want to do that." A deep voice echoed through the room as a tall form stood in the doorway.

"And why would that be?" Magnius asked, turning at the intrusion. A man stood there, waiting calmly for a moment before charging toward Magnius.

Crystal slumped to the ground as soon as the man pulled Magnius away from her, showing just how weak she truly was. She tried to stand again, but found that she was too weak to do much more than hold her head up.

She wished that she could help this man who had saved her, though he seemed to have everything well in hand. Unfortunately she was weak due to blood loss, and passed out mere moments after hitting the ground.

0~0~0~0~0~0

_The morning had started as any other; rise before the sun, eat a quick breakfast before going out to watch the sunrise, then make my way into the city for another day before my mother got up._

_I rarely saw her anymore, my mother. Ever since my father went to fight in the war, she sat at home all day, looking sad. I couldn't stand it._

_Neither could my brother, who left at the same time I did every morning. _

_Most people would say that a fourteen year old shouldn't walk around alone in a city as big as the one I grew up in, but I could handle myself. And when I couldn't, my brother was never far away. _

_Sixth sense, I called it. He always knew when I was in trouble, and I always knew when he was. So it came as a complete surprise that on that morning, we were on opposite sides of town when the first wave of Desian soldiers tore through the town._

_When I found my brother, we hugged. We both knew what was coming, but it was a relief to see that we were still alive and together for the moment. _

_Then I saw him; Commander Marcus Kirkson, Palmacosta hero. Savior of the broken and oppressed of Sylvarant. Well, of Palmacosta, anyway. People talked about him all the time. You'd have to be deaf and blind not tot know who he was. He had been out of town on training exercises, so now that he was back the townspeople would feel better._

0~0~0~0~0~0

When Crystal woke up again, she was in a bed in a dimly lit room. She tried to sit up, but as she did so a wave of dizziness washed over her.

"You shouldn't try to move much." Came a deep voice as she laid back down. Crystal looked up, seeing the man who had saved her standing in the doorway. He didn't seem to mind that she didn't answer him, so she took a moment to study him.

He had long red hair and blue eyes, and wore a pink sleeveless duster over a black tank top and white pants. He also had elbow-length pink and black gloves, and his sword was in a sheath on his belt.

"How do you feel?" He asked after a moment.

"Better than I was earlier, but still sore."

"Try to rest for now. I'm sure you'll be weak for a while. When you've recovered we can talk some more." He said, and then turned to leave.

"Wait." Crystal said, and he paused. "I never got to thank you. You saved my life."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like I could stand by and let him kill you."

"Still, I am in your debt. If there is anything I can do to repay you, please let me know. My name is Crystal. What's yours?"

The man seemed to think about this for a moment before responding, and when he spoke again it was only one word:

"Zelos."

Crystal's mind reeled. Zelos? As in Zelos Wilder, the Chosen? He had saved her? Though that begged the question, why was he in Sylvarant? He lived in Tethe'alla. Whatever the reason, she was glad he was there, since he had saved her life.

0~0~0~0~0~0

When Crystal woke up the next time she felt considerably better, though still a little weak. She could get up without feeling dizzy, so she stood and slowly walked to the back wall of the room, where a mirror hung over a dresser.

She didn't look too bad, just a few scratches on her face, most of which were healing. Her ebony hair was a mess, however, so she attempted to brush it back with her hands the best she could. After a few minutes she was satisfied, and turned from the mirror to inspect the room she was in.

The room was decorated nicely, with a wood floor and brown rugs. The dresser was at one end, and there were bookshelves on the other, on either side of the bed. The walls were painted a soft cream, and had intricate patterns etched into them.

As she looked around she saw that her bag was laying by the door, and went to pick it up. A few moments later there was a knock at the door. Crystal went to answer it, and found an older man she didn't recognize standing there.

"Ah, you're awake. Then, please, come this way. Master Zelos would like to see you." He said.

Crystal fell into step beside him, and the two walked down a long hallway. After a few minutes spent in silence the two reached another hallway, and they kept going down that one until the man stopped before a large door. The man knocked on the door, and was bid enter almost immediately.

When they walked into the room Crystal saw Zelos sitting on a brown sofa.

"Winston, you're dismissed." He said, and the man beside Crystal bowed his head slightly and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"How are you feeling?" Zelos asked her when Winston was gone.

"I'm much better, thank you."

Zelos nodded as she spoke, then motioned for her to join him on the sofa.

"Good, good… What do you intend to do now?"

"I don't know. I should probably go home, I guess."

"Yes, I'm sure your parents must be worried about you." Zelos agreed, noting Crystal's young appearance.

"My… parents aren't at home. They're in the ranch." Crystal said, looking away.

"I see. So that's why you were at the ranch?"

"Sort of, yes. He said that if I did a job for him, he would release my parents. But he lied. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, really." Crystal answered, still not looking at Zelos.

"So, if you have no reason to go home, and nowhere else to go, why don't you stay here?" Zelos suggested, and Crystal looked up.

"You… you're not mad that I was working for the Desians?"

"Nah. I figure you had your reasons, and it's not really my place to judge you for it."

Crystal was surprised at that. After all, he was the Chosen, the one who was supposed to defeat the Desians. She was almost his enemy. But he didn't seem concerned with that.

"What would I do here?" She asked after a long moment.

"Just relax for a while. You're still not fully recovered, after all. And if you have no home to go back to, then why not stay here?"

Crystal seemed to think about it for a bit, standing up from the sofa and walking to the window.

"Hmm… spend a few days in Meltokio…?" She murmured, and Zelos looked up.

"You know this is Meltokio?"

Zelos was surprised that she would recognize the city; he had found her in Sylvarant after all, and this was Tethe'alla.

"Yeah. I spent some time here a few years ago."

"What? You spent time here and I never noticed? I find that hard to believe. I would have noticed a beautiful hunny like you, I'm sure."

Crystal blushed at his comment but kept her face turned toward the window, hidden from view.

"It was a few years ago. I was much younger then."

"Well, that must be it then. You must have looked completely different back then, so even if I had seen you I wouldn't remember. So, what do you say? Wanna stay?"

"Alright. I'll stay for awhile. Thank you, Chosen." Crystal said, and was surprised when Zelos flinched.

"Please don't call me that. Just Zelos will be fine."

"Very well, Zelos."

0~0~0~0~0~0

Over the next few days Crystal spent most of her time indoors, finding ways to occupy herself while Zelos was away. As the Chosen he was always busy, and rarely at home. So Crystal spent her time reading. Zelos' mansion had a huge library, and Crystal spent hours upon hours sitting by the fire, reading a new book everyday.

One evening at dinner, Crystal brought up the fact that she still needed to find a way to save her parents from the ranch, and that she was beginning to feel useless at the mansion.

So Zelos promised to look into the matter, and the next day he came to her with a solution.

"There's someone I want to introduce you to. You up for a trip back to Sylvarant?"

So the two went to Sylvarant, to a large structure in the Triet Desert. Once inside, Zelos led Crystal to a large room where a man with blue hair was waiting.

"Yuan, this is the woman I told you about. Crystal, this is Yuan, leader of the Renegades."

"Hello, Crystal. Zelos said you might be interested in working with the Renegades." Yuan greeted.

"Well, I'll need some more information. I don't know anything about your organization."

"Of course. If you're up to taking a walk, I'll show you what it is we do here."

So as Zelos left to return to Meltokio, Yuan led Crystal out of the room and on a tour of the facility, which was even larger than she had ever expected it to be. He explained that he and those who served under him were, as Zelos said, the Renegades, an underground resistance dedicated to fighting the Desians.

He offered her a position within the Renegades, serving directly under Botta, his second-in-command. She didn't need long to decide to accept the offer, agreeing almost too easily for Yuan's liking. But agree she did, so he wouldn't go back on the offer now.

He gave her a form to fill out, with basic questions such as full name, race and age, and more detailed questions about family and former relationships.

She filled it out and went to find Yuan again, and found him in a library she hadn't seen on the tour.

She later found out it was his private library, one that few people were allowed into.

"Lord Yuan…?"

"Yes?"

"I filled out the paperwork." She said, then handed it to him and turned to go.

"Crystal, wait a moment." Yuan called out to her, and she turned.

"Come and sit down."

So she did, and after a moment he spoke again.

"If you're going to work here, there are some things you should know…"

Crystal didn't answer, simply waited for him to continue.

"What do you know about Cruxis?" He asked after a moment.

"It's the organization behind the Church of Martel, right?"

"Not exactly. Cruxis is a front for the Desians."

"What? What do you mean?"

"This is going to be hard to accept, but the Desians and Cruxis are both controlled by one man, Yggdrasill. There is another world beyond Sylvarant that competes for mana."

"Tethe'alla." Crystal put in, and Yuan nodded, surprised.

"Yes. You know of it?"

"Yeah, I… I was born in Tethe'alla."

"Really? Hm… Well, anyway, the one who created this twisted world was Cruxis' leader, Yggdrasill."

"Yggdrasill created the worlds? How is that possible? And if he was the one that created the two worlds, what can you do against someone like that?"

"Very good. You're thinking through this better than most of my subordinates. …Our goal is to stop Martel's revival. Therefore, the Chosen, who would become her vessel, is an obstacle."

"Martel's revival? Isn't she just asleep? She just needs woken up, right?" Crystal asked.

"Not exactly. Martel… isn't a goddess. She is Yggdrasill's sister. That's the next part of this that's going to be hard to accept. You know of the Kharlan War, correct?"

"Yes. The hero Mithos brought about the end of the Ancient War in the Holy Ground of Kharlan. Then he formed a pact with the Goddess Martel to seal away the Desians, who were responsible for causing the war in the first place. At least that's what they teach in the church. But that's not really true, is it? If Martel isn't really a goddess, then what else of that story is a lie?"

"The hero Mithos did end the war in the Holy Ground, but it was a group effort between him, his sister and two friends."

"Who were the two friends?" Crystal asked next, and Yuan hesitated.

"You're one of them, aren't you? You're one of his friends…"

"Yes, I am. The three of us were accompanied by another man, Kratos. We ended the war, but Mithos used his pact with the Summon Spirit Origin to gain control of a powerful weapon, called the Eternal Sword. He used it to split the world in two, and thus end the war."

Then Yuan hesitated, and Crystal could see a shadow of sadness pass over his face.

"If there's something you don't want to tell me, don't worry about it."

"No, it's something you need to know. It's about Martel."

"You were very close to her, weren't you? To all of them of course, but to her especially." Crystal realized, and Yuan nodded.

"That's right. We were… engaged, before she died."

"I'm so sorry."

Yuan remained silent for a long moment, then shook his head and continued.

"It was a long time ago. When Martel was killed, Mithos was just a child, and he took it hard. He became obsessed with the idea of bringing her back, and that was when the Mana lineage was created. He used the Chosens' to find a compatible match with Martel's mana signature, and after all these years he's finally found one that is the closest that we've ever seen."

"So, he's going to guide her on the Journey of Regeneration, and take her body when it's over." Crystal summed up, and Yuan nodded.

"Then what happens to the girl's consciousness when that occurs? Is it still inside her, competing with Martel for control over her body?"

"No, the Chosen will lose her soul at the end of her journey. She will simply be the vessel for Martel."

"And you want to intercept her before she completes the journey, right?"

"Correct. We cannot let Martel be revived."

"Okay." Crystal nodded, and Yuan looked at her quizzically.

"'Okay'?" He questioned.

"Yeah. I'll help stop Martel's revival."

"That easy? You just accept that everything you've ever been taught was a lie, and you're ready to just drop everything to help us?" Yuan asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's not like I have any way to stop the Desians on my own, and if you stop Yggdrasill then you'll stop the Desians too, right? I've been dealing with them all my life, and now I've finally found a way to be useful. I can't say no to that." Crystal explained, and then stood up from her chair.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity. You've given me something constructive to do in my efforts to stop the Desians. I won't let the Renegades down, Sir, I promise you that."

Then she turned and left the room, and Yuan sat in silence for several moments, thinking over everything she had said. Looking at the paperwork in his hand, he began to go over the answers she had written down.

"'Full Name: Crystal _Aurion_….? What? How is that possible? Another of the Aurion lineage? That can't be right…" Yuan thought as he read the first line. Deciding to do some research on the matter, he called for Botta.

"I want you to look up everything you can find on the surname Aurion. Find anyone alive at this time with the name, and everyone relating to them." He ordered when his second entered the room.

"Yes Sir. Should I start with Kratos?"

"Yes. Start there and follow his family as far as you can."

Then Botta bowed and left, and Yuan went back to reading.

"Race: Human.

Location of Birth: Meltokio Clinic; Meltokio, Tethe'alla.

Age: Sixteen.

Family: Marcus Kirkson; Father. Christina Kirkson; Mother. Erik Kirkson; Brother. Jocelyn Kirkson; Sister.

Family Status: In a Human Ranch.

Previous Relationships: None."

Yuan read over the rest of the answers, not really focusing on what he read. He was preoccupied with her surname. He could hardly believe that it was true, but he didn't feel that the girl was lying. So he would have to wait and see what Botta's search revealed.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is REALLY long. Sorry if it bugs anyone! Hope you like it anyway!

Read and Review Please!

**Broken Memories**

"Crystal, your first assignment is to go to Iselia. We've recently heard a rumor that there is a young boy there by the name of Lloyd Irving. We need you to go there and confirm that rumor." Yuan instructed.

"Yes Sir. Am I to remain undetected?"

"It would be best if you were not seen, but if you are discovered there is no help for it. Just be sure you do not reveal your reason for being there, and get in and out as soon as possible."

"Understood."

0~0~0~0~0~0

Crystal reached Iselia later that afternoon, and stayed in the forest while she waited for her target to appear. According to the information she had received, Lloyd lived in the woods with a dwarf named Dirk, who raised him.

As she walked through the woods she felt a chill as she passed the human ranch ran by Forcystus. Once she got passed it, she looked around the forest. It was full of huge trees, but unlike some forests she had seen, this one was allowed in plenty of sunlight.

It was also full of flowers and herbs, and Crystal found herself wanting to collect a few of the medicinal herbs to take back with her. But she was on assignment, so she continued on.

Crystal found the house they lived in a few minutes later. It was a two story, wood house, with a second story deck connecting to an animal pen. There were also vines growing up the side of the house.

As she studied the house, she heard voices coming from inside, through an open window. Quickly retreating to the shadows, she waited silently, and a moment later the front door opened. A young man with messy brown hair came out, followed by a dwarf.

Assuming the dwarf was Dirk, she confirmed the rumor when she heard him refer to the boy as Lloyd. Now that her job was complete Crystal could have left the area, but she felt certain that she could obtain more information if she stayed.

So she waited until late at night, when she was sure Dirk and Lloyd were asleep, and left her spot in the woods and approached the house. She didn't go in, but she walked around the property until she came to the pen that housed a strange animal.

It was large like a horse, furry like a dog, and had mostly white fur with green around its neck and top of its head. It also had lilac colored feet. It also had very large ears, almost like an elephant.

The animal was sleeping, so Crystal approached it silently, but as she watched it, one dark eye opened to stare at her. The other opened a moment later, and it opened its mouth and cried out a loud whine.

Mere moments after the sound ended, a window opened on the second story and Lloyd stuck his head out.

"Noishe? What's goin' on, boy?" He asked, still half asleep.

Crystal had pressed herself against the side of the house and slowly inched away from the pen, unseen by Lloyd. After a few seconds Lloyd disappeared back into his room, and Crystal released the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Okay, time to go." She whispered, but as she turned away something else caught her attention. At the back of the property was a grave stone, and as she approached it Crystal saw that it read 'Anna'.

Having collected all the information she was going to get, she left the area and headed back to the desert, to the Renegade base.

**0~0~0~0~0~0**

"I was sure that someone was there, Lilly. And Noishe thought something was up too." Lloyd said. He was eating breakfast with Lilly, one of his best friends. The two were at the schoolteacher's house, where Lilly was staying.

"Hmm… maybe someone was there, and Noishe chased them off."

"Maybe. Noishe is good at chasing people off." Lloyd agreed.

"Okay, you two, time to get to school." The Professor said, entering the room.

"Already?" Lloyd sighed, standing up from the table he sat at.

"Come on, Lloyd. You got here late, so don't be surprised that you don't have time to lounge." Lilly told him, picking up her bag.

Though Lilly was twenty years old, she hadn't had much official schooling, as most of her life was spent traveling all over the world. So after arriving in Iselia she began attending classes regularly.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Lloyd Irving, wake up! Lloyd!" The Professor called, but Lloyd didn't budge.

He was standing in the back of the classroom, holding water buckets as punishment for disrupting the lesson earlier that morning.

"I'll wake him, Professor." Lilly said, throwing an eraser at her friend.

"Gah!" He sputtered, finally waking up.

"How do you manage to sleep standing?" The Professor asked, retrieving the eraser.

"Oh, Professor… Is class over?"

"Nevermind. Let's have someone else answer the question. Genis, how about you?"

A silver-haired boy stood up.

"Yes, Raine. Mithos the Hero brought about the end of the Ancient War at the Holy Ground of Kharlan."

"Correct. Afterwards, Mithos the Hero formed a pact with the Goddess Martel to seal away the Desians whom caused the war."

"But the Desians came back and are now causing everyone to suffer!" Lloyd pointed out.

"We covered that in class last time, remember? When the Seal weakens the Desians reappear. Just like they have now. Today is the Day of Prophecy. It is a very important day, which the Chosen of Mana will receive an oracle from the Goddess Martel. Now, Chosen One…Colette."

This time a young blonde girl stands.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Tell us about the journey of world regeneration."

"It is a journey to seal the Desians. Upon passing the trials of the Goddess Martel, the Summon Spirits that protect the world awaken, and mana is restored."

"Correct. I suppose we should expect the Chosen herself to know the answer to that one. Mana depletion is the cause of the current food shortages and droughts. It is said that this occurs because the Desians consume vast amounts of mana in their human ranches."

"But what is a human ranch?" Lilly asked.

"That's one thing we don't know. They seem to be nothing more than a means for the Desians to torture humans. The Desians are half-elves and as you know, half-elves and humans despise one another."

"It seems ridiculous." Lilly muttered.

As a one-quarter elf, she was despised by most humans, half-elves and even full-blooded elves, simply because she was different. The people of Iselia didn't know her true bloodline, except for Lloyd, Genis, Colette and Raine, but they didn't care. They were the only people Lilly had ever encountered that didn't mind.

"The Chosen's journey has two purposes—to revive mana as well as defeat the Desians. Now, for the next question—" The Professor continued, but stopped when a bright flash of light shone through the building.

"What was that?" Lloyd asked.

"Light from the temple. It's time for the Oracle!" Lilly answered.

"Everyone calm down. It would seem that the time for the Oracle has come. I will go and check on the chapel-the rest of you stay here and study on your own." The Professor said, turning to the door.

"Professor! I'll go with you!" The Chosen offered.

"No, Colette. If it is the Oracle, the priests will come for you. Remain here with everyone else."

"We're seriously going to stay behind?" Lilly questioned when Raine was gone.

"Nope." Lloyd answered.

"Didn't think so. Come on, Colette, we're going to the temple!"

Genis protested that decision when he heard of it, but in the end he was outnumbered, and went with them.

**0~0~0~0~0~0**

When Crystal returned to the base, she reported to Yuan as soon as possible. He seemed pleased with the information she had acquired, especially about the grave stone, but he also seemed distracted by something. He dismissed her as soon as she finished giving her report, so she decided to go to the training room.

When she arrived, she found Botta there training with one of his subordinates, a large man named Vidar. When he saw her, Botta invited her in to train with them. So she spent the next hour training with them.

"You fight well, Crystal. Are your techniques self taught?" Botta asked.

"Mostly. Though I did train a little with the Chosen of Tethe'alla a few years ago."

"Oh, so you know the Chosen of Tethe'alla? That should be useful for future assignments."

Just then Yuan's voice cut in over the speakers.

"Crystal Aurion, report to my office."

"Well, gotta go. See ya later, Sirs."

As she walked out, Botta thought about what he had just heard.

"Aurion…?"

Once in Yuan's office, Crystal was given a new assignment.

The Day of Prophecy was the following day, and Botta and a few of the other Renegades were going to Iselia to ambush the Chosen at the Martel Temple. Yuan wanted Crystal to go along with them. So she spent the next day training in preparation, and when it was time she headed out with Botta and the others, including Vidar.

When they arrived in Iselia they went to the Martel Temple, where they found the priests and high priestess waiting for the Chosen to arrive. Botta sent some of the men inside the temple to eliminate the priests in there, while he, Vidar, Crystal and a couple of other guards questioned the high priestess, an older woman with blonde hair.

"Where is the Chosen?" Botta asked.

"I won't let you harm her."

"We don't have time for games, lady. Where. Is. The. Chosen?" He said each word as its own sentence, and just as he finished three children ran up the steps behind them, Lloyd among them.

"Run, Colette!" The priestess cried, looking at a blonde girl.

"Lord Botta! There she is!" One of the soldiers with Botta said.

"Chosen One, your life is mine!" Botta told the girl, sending the two guards after her.

"I won't let you Desians get away with anything!" Lloyd said, drawing his sword.

The guards merely laughed.

"What's so funny?" A short, silver-haired boy asked.

"Well then, die at the hands of the Desians you so hate! Get them!" The man said, urging his partner on.

Unfortunately, they were defeated pitifully easily.

"No!" Crystal called out, rushing to their side with healing gels.

"Crystal, focus!" Botta shouted, sending her and Vidar at the children next. They were able to take the children down quickly, but just as Crystal raised her sword over Colette's head she was suddenly blocked by a man wielding a long sword.

She hit the ground hard, and looked up into cold garnet eyes. The man was tall and had messy auburn hair that hung in his eyes, and he would have been attractive if he wasn't so focused on the fight at hand. He was almost growling at that moment, and it slightly frightened Crystal. The children pulled themselves to their feet at that point, and joined the man in battle.

The man went after Vidar first, leaving Crystal to attack Lloyd and the others, but with three on one it wasn't easy. She managed to land a painful blow on Colette, but the girl's cry caught the man's attention and he turned to Crystal again.

She jumped back when he swung his sword in a wide swipe at her, pulling a knife out of her belt and hurling it at him. It distracted him only briefly, merely long enough for Crystal to swing her sword at him and be blocked.

"Dammit!"

As soon as the man blocked her sword, he twisted suddenly and struck out, knocking the weapon from her hands and catching a fistful of her hair in his hand. Then he turned so that her back was pressed against his chest.

He pulled her head back to where she was looking straight up at him, and though it was painful she refused to flinch. Her deep green eyes met his cold garnet ones again, and she could see that he had no qualms about killing her right there.

In the space of a second, the man brought his sword up and down onto her neck, cutting into it deeply. Fortunately for her Vidar had been busily attacking Lloyd and the others at that time, and a particularly loud cry from Lloyd caught the man's attention, causing him to shift his aim just enough that all he did was cut into the side of her neck, not hitting any veins.

As soon as he heard Lloyd's cry, the man released Crystal and turned to Vidar. Botta was at her side in an instant, helping her to her feet and trying to stop the bleeding of her neck. He tore a strip of the sleeve off of his clothes and pressed it to the wound on her neck, and after a few moments the bleeding stopped.

Vidar wasn't so lucky. The man turned and abruptly thrust his sword into Vidar's chest, right through his heart.

"No!" Crystal shouted again, trying to get to Vidar as his body hit the ground, but she couldn't get out of Botta's grasp.

When the battle was over, the man cleaned his sword calmly, and looked back to Botta and Crystal, the latter of which stared at him with her eyes wide.

"Damn…" Botta breathed, "Never thought you'd show up. Retreat for now!" So the two soldiers limped after Botta and Crystal, surprised that the man let them go so easily.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Aurion, Aurion… where is the file on Aurion?" Yuan muttered to himself.

He was in Meltokio, looking through their archives on birth records. Botta's search had been interrupted when Yuan sent him to Iselia, so Yuan decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Aubrey … Audrey … Aura … aha! Aurion."

Finding the file he was looking for, Yuan flipped through to the page he was looking for. As he studied it, he found that it backed up everything that Crystal had said; where and when she was born, who her parents were, and her race. So she hadn't lied. Perfect. He could use that information at some point.

Closing the file and returning it to its place on the shelf, Yuan left the archive building and prepared to leave Meltokio. When he returned to the base he learned that Botta and the others had returned, minus Vidar.

When they came to report to him on their mission, he was surprised to find them in the condition they were in; Aaron and Saul were limping badly and had several cuts and bruises all over their arms, necks and faces. Crystal walked with a limp as well, and had a bandage covering a large portion of the right side of her neck.

"What happened out there?" He asked, taking in their appearance.

"Kratos was there, Sir." Botta answered simply.

"What?"

So they explained what happened, and when they finished Yuan dismissed them all. Botta, and the two soldiers left the room, but Crystal remained.

"Is something wrong, Miss Aurion?"

"Lord Yuan, I apologize. I swore I wouldn't let the Renegades down, and I have. I failed in my mission, and one of our people died as a result. I'm so sorry, Sir. I-" She began, but Yuan interrupted her.

"You could not have anticipated this turn of events. You are not at fault here. No one knew Kratos would be there today, and if we had I never would have sent you on this mission. Go and rest now. I will have your next assignment ready by morning."

So Crystal left the room, and Yuan sighed.

"Dammit, Kratos, why must you always get in my way?"

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Lloyd, you're heading home, right? Can I come part of the way with you?" Genis asked later that afternoon.

"Sure. But why are you going into the forest?"

"I have someone I wanna see."

"Oh. Okay. Hey Lilly, you wanna come over for dinner tonight?"

"Sure. Colette is coming over later tonight, right? I can go home with her after dinner." Lilly answered as the three headed to the forest.

After walking for several minutes, Genis stopped by the Human Ranch.

"This is my stop."

"What? Genis, why are you going to the ranch? That's forbidden by the peace treaty!" Lilly protested.

"The Desians already violated the treaty by attacking the temple."

"Well, still…"

"If you're going to go, then I'm going with you." Lloyd said.

"You guys are hopeless. Go, then. I'll stand watch out here. Be quick."

So the two ran around the side of the ranch, so Genis could speak to an old woman. From her place as guard, Lilly couldn't hear much of their conversation, but she did hear the word "Exsphere" come up.

Exspheres serve as power-enhancers for those who equipped them, enhancing their natural strength and stamina.

As Lilly waited, Lloyd and Genis ran back to her in a hurry.

"We have to help Marble!" Genis said, pointing to where he had just fled from. Two Desian soldiers were whipping the old woman, while a third looked on.

"Alright, let's go up on the cliff so we can see better."

Once there they had a plan. Genis would attack the soldiers with magic, while Lloyd and Lilly acted as decoys to lure them away from the area. Then when it was safe Genis would make his way back to the village while Lloyd and Lilly headed to Lloyd's house.

Unfortunately it wasn't that simple.

Genis tripped on his way down the cliff, catching the attention of the soldiers. So Lloyd and Lilly had to confront them head on, meaning that they revealed their identities.

They were able to fight them off, but now that the Desians had seen their faces they would surely retaliate, probably against the village.

Genis apologized profusely, but the teens brushed it off and sent Genis home as they had originally planned.

Later that night Colette, Genis and Raine came to the house. They were accompanied by Kratos, the man who arrived at the temple earlier that afternoon. He claimed that he was a mercenary, and that if the Chosen's family could pay him he would guard her on her journey, seeing that the priests who were going to do it had been killed by the Desians.

"Lloyd, why don't we go up on the terrace?" Colette suggested.

"Sure."

While the two went upstairs to talk, the others went their separate ways in the yard.

Kratos went to stand before a grave marked 'Anna' and as he stood there, a young woman came to stand beside him.

"Hello. I'm Lilly Chaffe." She greeted politely.

"Kratos Aurion." Kratos answered, then looked back to the grave stone.

"Lloyd's mother." She said simply, knowing he would wonder. At least, she assumed he would – who wouldn't?

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know the details. I only know that she died, and Dirk found Lloyd in the forest when he was a baby."

"I see. And what of you? Are you his sister?" Kratos asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"No, I'm not. I found this village during my travels, and forgot to leave. Lloyd and the others made me feel welcome, and that's something I haven't felt in a long time, if ever."

Then Lilly grew quiet, realizing that she had said more than she intended and not sure what to say next.

"I – I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She offered after a moment.

"It is alright. If I may ask, is it because of your blood that you do not feel welcome anywhere?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would that be a problem? I'm just an elf." She answered a little too quickly.

"Miss Chaffe, you do not have to hide the truth from me. I know what you are, and it does not matter to me in the slightest."

Lilly was stunned. He wasn't going to judge her because of her blood? Other than Lloyd and the others, no one else had ever been that accepting. It took her a minute to process the fact that he didn't seem to mind that she was a quarter-blood.

"Thank you, Mr. Aurion. I truly appreciate that. You have no idea how grateful I am to hear that."

The two stood in silence for a few moments, and Kratos used that time to study the young woman.

She was a small woman, he noted, nearly a full foot shorter than him and young, barely in her twenties judging by her appearance. Her skin was light, her features strong but delicate, her eyes a deep, piercing blue.

Quite a beautiful young woman by all accounts.

There was a hard light in her eyes, however, and Kratos assumed it had been born out of the hardship she had faced.

As he studied her he felt sympathy crash over him. No one deserved to have as hard a life as she had, especially not at such a young age.

But though she had been despised all her life she didn't bear the appearance of one who wanted pity, and carried herself with pride and determination. It was an admirable trait, and Kratos found himself feeling a bit of pride in her ability to not let others beat her down.

While Kratos studied her she kept her eyes on the grave stone in front of her, but out of the corner of her eye she was studying him as well.

He was tall and muscular, with a skin tone slightly darker than her own. His hair was a deep auburn color, his eyes garnet. There seemed to be something dark and mysterious in his features, and Lilly nearly giggled as she thought of all the schoolgirls who would likely be swooning just for standing this close to the man.

Shaking her head slightly, Lilly banished such thoughts. She would not allow herself to become attracted to this man – he would only be in her life for a short time, until his services were no longer needed, and if she began to feel anything for him she would only end up hurt.

"So… what brought you to the village today?" She asked, desperate to find a safe topic for discussion.

"I was looking for work."

"I see."

"Will you be accompanying the Chosen on her journey?"

"No, I don't think so. Someone has to stay here and make sure Lloyd stays out of trouble." She answered, trying to keep the conversation light.

"I see."

Was that disappointment in his voice?

_"Don't do this, Lilly. Don't allow yourself to read anything into it. You really think he'd be disappointed that little old you aren't going to go with Colette? Please." _Lilly thought, shaking her head again.

"Lilly, Kratos…"

Looking up at the new voice behind them, they found Raine approaching.

"We're ready to head back to the village now."

"Okay."

"Very well."

So the two fell into step beside the professor, meeting up with Colette and Genis at the front gate.

As the group walked through the forest, Lilly fell into step beside Kratos. Neither acknowledged the other, but Lilly found herself wishing to continue conversing with him. Of course, with Genis, Raine and Colette within ear shot, it wouldn't be a private conversation, so she held her tongue.

She did, however, find herself wishing that she would be going with Colette in the morning. But she quickly dismissed that thought as well. This man was someone she barely knew, and in the morning he would be out of her life as quickly as he had entered it.

**0~0~0~0~0~0**

The next morning, Crystal went to see Yuan about her assignment.

"Ah, Miss Aurion, I was just about to send for you. Come, there is someone you need to meet." He said, and then led her into his office where a raven haired young woman stood by the window.

"Miss Aurion, this is Sheena Fujibayashi. Sheena, this is Crystal Aurion. Sheena is from Tethe'alla, and she has been sent to Sylvarant by her people to assassinate the Chosen. You will help her in this task. Now I will leave you two to discuss your plans." Yuan said, and then left the room.

"Hello." Crystal offered, noticing that Sheena seemed a bit nervous.

"Hello. I suppose we should get to work. Yuan suggested that we go to the training room to practice sparring and learn how to fight together, maybe put together a few team attacks. That okay with you?"

"Sounds like a good plan. Come on, I'll show you the way."

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Lloyd! Where have you been? Colette left hours ago!" Lilly called as she saw Lloyd running up to the village gate with Genis.

"Colette lied to me! She said she was leaving at noon!"

"She lied? Huh… go see her family. They might have some answers. I'll wait here."

So Lloyd and Genis headed to Colette's house, but while they were gone a group of Desians entered the village.

"Uh-oh!"

"Where are Lloyd Irving and Lilly Chaffe?" The leader called out.

The villagers ran into their houses, and Lilly went to warn Lloyd.

"Lloyd! There are Desians looking for you and me!"

"What! Where?"

"Out by the gate."

"Okay, let's go. We have to stop them."

As they left Colette's house, they saw a group of soldiers burning a nearby house.

"Hey! Stop that!" Genis called, and the men turned.

"What, you gonna make us?" One of them said, and attacked them.

Lloyd and the others were able to defeat them easily, and thankfully the house that the soldiers burned was empty. The three pressed on toward the gate, until they came to another house that was on fire.

"Our house!" Genis and Lilly cried in unison.

They could hear the crackling of the flames, the splintering of the wood as it was consumed by the fire. The smoke surrounding the house was thick, and the longer they stood there the more of it they were breathing in.

"We need to get moving." Lloyd said.

"But-!" Lilly tried, but Lloyd interrupted.

"We have to stop the Desians from hurting anyone and burning anymore houses."

"Yeah, you're right. They're gonna pay for this. Let's go!"

So the three continued on, seeing other burning houses as and as they approached the gate they could hear the lead captain of the soldiers calling out.

"Lloyd Irving, Lilly Chaffe, come forth!"

"You've come to attack the village again? I've had enough of this!" Lloyd said.

"What are you talking about?" One of the soldiers asked.

"He speaks nonsense, ignore him." A new man, the apparent leader of the whole group, said as he approached.

Lilly recognized this man as the leader of the human ranch they had been to yesterday.

The leader was a man named Forcystus, with short, aqua colored hair and a metal patch over his right eye. He also had a cannon barrel on his left arm.

"Listen up, inferior beings! I am Forcystus, one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals.

I am a superior half-elf who rules over the farm where we cultivate you pathetic humans."

"Farm? Cultivate…? What are we, cattle?" Lilly shouted.

Forcystus looked over at her for a moment, then at Lloyd, before he began to speak again.

"Lloyd! Lilly! You, a human and quarter-elf, have been found guilty for the crime of violating the non-aggression treaty. Therefore, I bring judgment upon you and this village!"

Lilly could hear the villagers murmuring behind her.

"A quarter-elf? Lilly? Unbelievable!"

"She lied to the entire village!"

Clearly no one was happy with her right now.

"You violated the treaty, too! You tried to murder the Chosen!" Genis pointed out.

"Us, kill the Chosen? Hahaha! I see now. They must be after the Chosen." One of the soldiers said.

"They? Are you saying you aren't the ones that attacked Colette?" Lloyd questioned.

"I have no need to explain myself to the likes of you. The only thing that matters is that you, Lloyd Irving, have been in contact with host body F192 and attacked our guards. We've prepared an appropriate opponent for your crime!"

Then Forcystus stepped to the side as a soldier brought a strange creature into the area.

It was vaguely humanoid, but much taller than anyone in the area. Its skin was green, veined with yellow and red, and had one large red eye in the middle of its forehead. It wore the remains of a dress of dark brown, the same that the people at the ranch wore, and there was a metal collar about its neck.

"What is that thing?" Genis cried.

In the back of her mind Lilly was picturing the old woman Genis had gone to the ranch to see the previous day.

"Wait! That's Marble!" She told the boys, remembering the name Genis had called her.

"What? Man, we can't fight her - we might kill her!" Lloyd said.

"But what can we do? We can't let her destroy the town!"

At that moment Marble chose to attack one of the villagers.

"Marble, stop!" Genis cried out.

"She can't understand you right now! Try to distract her so I can use my Omega Arts! That might save her!" Lilly called to them.

So Lloyd and Genis ran around Marble, trying to keep her busy while Lilly charged her mana for the Omega Arts. When she was ready she had Genis use magic to stun Marble, so she could approach her without getting hurt.

"Okay Marble, I'm gonna try to help you. It's alright…" She said, her voice low and calm so as not to frighten Marble.

Reaching out, Lilly placed a hand on the woman's chest, or at least as high on its body as she could, and began chanting incantations quietly.

"Kad Kaf Hani E…!"

A soft yellow light glowed around her hand and covered the woman, getting brighter and brighter until it was nearly impossible to see. When the light faded whispers surrounded the group as they saw that Marble was no longer in the form of that strange creature.

"Lilly, you did it!"

"Way to go!"

"I… what…?" Lilly asked between breaths. She felt incredibly dizzy and weak, and when she tried to turn around to look at the boys she collapsed, falling into all-consuming darkness.

When she woke again she was in a bed in a hot, stuffy room.

"Hey, you're awake!" Lloyd said, standing up from a chair on the other side of the room.

"How do you feel, dear?" Marble asked.

"I think I'm okay. What about you?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm perfectly alright, thanks to you."

"What you did was amazing!" Genis put in.

"Yeah! How did you do that?"

"It's very simple really. In Marble's case, she turned into that… being… because her Exsphere was removed, which caused her mana to go out of control. So all she needed was for someone to restore her mana. And since my healing ability is based on mana manipulation even more than the normal healing arts, it was something I could do rather easily." Lilly explained.

"Wow! That's so cool!"

"It is rather interesting, I admit. But shouldn't you three be looking for your friends?" Marble spoke up.

"Oh, right! Where are we, anyway?" Lilly asked.

"We're at the inn in Triet. After you saved Marble that Forcystus guy left, but the mayor and some of the other villagers were angry at us for causing the Desians to attack the town, and they banished us. We can't ever return now." Lloyd explained sadly.

"Then we put you on Noishe and left." Genis added.

"Well, once we help Colette regenerate the world, maybe they'll change their minds. Anyway, we should get going."

"Lloyd found out where Colette is headed; there are some ruins near here that should be the location of the first seal. We should try there first." Genis put in.

"Okay, good. Hey, Marble, what are you gonna do? Where will you go?"

"I think I might stay here for awhile, actually. I rather like this town. Don't worry about me, dear. You go find your friend."

So the three left the inn and prepared to leave town, but before they reached the gate they were attacked by Desians.

They fought them off easily, but before they could leave the area they were ambushed and Lloyd was knocked out. Lilly and Genis surrendered at that point, and the three were taken away.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Sheena and Crystal spent the entire day and most of the night practicing, and Crystal found that she fought better without her sword, trading it for a pair of daggers. With the smaller blades she could move around more easily, and get more attacks in than a longer sword.

Sheena fought with cards infused with magic, a secret art taught only in her village. She was also a ninja, and taught Crystal how to be lighter on her feet in order to be quicker in battle.

The two got along well, and by the end of the first night they were as close as sisters. Crystal felt that Sheena was a lot like Jocelyn, and while it served as a painful reminder of what she had lost, it also served as encouragement to see that she completed her assignments quickly, in order to defeat the Desians and free her family.

"Hey, I hear Lloyd is in the prison ward." Sheena said the next afternoon.

"What?"

"Apparently some of the soldiers found him and a couple of other kids in Triet."

"Other kids? Are they here too?"

"One is. It's a girl named Lilly, I think. The other was released."

"Huh. Thanks for letting me know."

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Ohh… my head-! Where am I?" Lloyd wondered when he woke up. Looking around, he saw that he was in a cell in a long hallway, and a guard was pacing nearby.

"Lloyd, you're awake! You okay?" Lilly called out from the next cell.

"Yeah, I think so. What about you? And where's Genis?"

"I'm fine-they didn't harm me since I came quietly. They let Genis go, since he was a fellow elf."

"But aren't the Desians half-elves?"

"Yeah, but it's still elf blood, right? Apparently I didn't count though, since I'm only a quarter-blood. Anyway, we gotta figure out how to get out of here."

"Hey, no talking!" The guard said as he approached their cells.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, until they heard a woman's voice.

"Soldier, Lord Botta has called for you. Report to him at once."

"Yes Ma'am."

The echoing of footsteps could be heard for several moments, then silence reigned for another long moment before a woman appeared in front of Lloyd and Lilly's cells.

"You! You're the woman that was in Iselia!" Lloyd said.

"Shut up! Do you think they know I'm here right now?" The woman hissed.

"Then what do you want?" Lilly asked.

"First of all, name's Crystal. I'm tired of being called 'that woman'. Now, I don't know why they came after you. As far as I know it wasn't part of the plan. So I'm sorry."

"That's it? You came down here for that?"

The woman hesitated, looking down the hall quickly and stepping closer to Lilly's cell as if she'd been seen. Then after a moment she turned away.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." She answered, and walked away.

"Well, that was nice." Lloyd said sarcastically.

"Lloyd, she gave us exactly what we needed."

"What?"

Lilly held up a small silver key.

"She gave this to me when she stepped closer to the cell. We can get out of here now."

Then let's go."

0~0~0~0~0~0

Moving silently down the hall, Crystal slipped into the training room unnoticed and breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't worried that what she had done would be discovered, it was more a matter of not wanting to be sent to recapture Lloyd and Lilly after they escaped.

After hearing that they had left the base, Crystal relaxed, and went to find Sheena to continue their training.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"You guys all came for us?" Lloyd questioned. The group had just left the base and was headed back to Triet for the rest of the day.

"Well sure, Lloyd. It's not like we were gonna just leave you here. You're our friends!" Genis answered.

"Still, you lost a day's worth of travel because of us. So thank you." Lilly put in.

"We couldn't just leave you with the Desians!" Colette told them.

"Indeed." Kratos agreed.

"I wonder why they let Genis go but kept Lilly. She still has elven blood, even if it's in a lower amount than a full or even half-blooded elf." Lloyd commented.

Lilly's head snapped up at that, but Lloyd didn't notice.

"I mean, they let Genis go because he was a 'fellow kinsmen' right? Well wouldn't Lilly be their kinsmen as well? Or is it because she has such a low amount of elven blood that they don't consider her one of their kind?"

Everyone hesitated for a moment. Kratos and Raine had seen Lilly's reaction to Lloyd's comments, and wished to find a way to direct the conversation away from her, but neither knew exactly how to do it.

"Lloyd." Kratos suddenly said.

"Yeah?"

"When we reach Triet, you and I are going to spar. If you are going to accompany the Chosen on her journey, you must improve your swordsmanship."

"Ah, man, already? Can't it wait for tomorrow?" Lloyd whined.

"Very well. If you wish to wait for morning, meet me at the gate at five o'clock."

"Uh, Nevermind! Tonight will be fine!"

As Lloyd continued whining to Lloyd and Colette, Kratos cast a glance back at Lilly, who was watching him.

"Thank you." She whispered and he nodded, holding her gaze for a long moment.

"Hey! There's Triet!" Colette announced, and Kratos and Lilly looked up. In the distance the faint outline of buildings could barely be made out.

"How long will it take to get there?" Lloyd asked.

"An hour and a half, perhaps."

"Great, I'm exhausted."

"Me too. I can't wait to get to the inn and rest."

0~0~0~0~0~0

Back at the base, Crystal and Sheena trained together for a few hours, and after their training ended for the night, the two went their separate ways. Crystal decided to take a walk outside, and without realizing it she found herself outside the town of Triet. She was about to turn and walk back to the base when something caught her eye; in a pen outside the inn was the animal Crystal saw at Lloyd's house, the one he called Noishe.

She approached him quietly and found him asleep again, and as she stood watching him, one eye opened just like last time. Unlike last time, however, he didn't protest. Instead, he simply stood and allowed her to pet and examine him.

"You're a good boy, aren't you? Why do I feel like I know you, though, huh?"

After a few moments she sighed, and pulled her hand away.

"Well, I guess I better go. See ya later, boy."

But as she turned around she found herself at the end of a sword. Looking up, she saw the same cold garnet eyes she had encountered the day before.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, pressing the sword tighter against her neck.

_"Somehow, I just can't get away from weapons at my neck, can I?" _Crystal sighed.

"I meant no harm. I live nearby and was out for a walk, and I saw this animal. I've never seen anything like it, so I wanted a closer look. That's all."

"Who are you?" Kratos demanded, and Crystal almost flinched at the sharpness of his words.

"Who I am is irrelevant. I honestly didn't come here for any purpose other than to look at this animal. If you would allow me, I will gladly leave. I'm not stupid enough to start a fight here. If you hadn't found me, I would have simply gone home, and I still can if you'll excuse me."

For some reason, unknown to even him, Kratos decided to let her leave. He followed her to the town gate, however, and watched her until she was no longer in sight.

Once she was out of his line of sight, Crystal headed back to the Renegade base. While he was watching her she had walked in the opposite direction of the base, unwilling to let him know where she was staying.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N; Thanks to Link Hoshi for reviewing and everyone who's read! Here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter Three**

Early the next morning, Crystal and Sheena met up to begin training again, and spent most of the day at it. That night Crystal took a walk again, but stayed away from Triet. The next morning she and Sheena headed out to confront the Chosen.

They had heard from reports that the Chosen's group would be crossing Ossa Trail that day, and they figured that the steep mountain path would be a good place to set up an ambush.

As they watched from their position on one of the cliffs of the mountain, Colette and the others approached. It was the same group of children as last time, along with Kratos and a silver haired woman that Crystal didn't recognize.

When the group was close enough, Sheena called out.

"Stop!" She said, jumping from her perch and landing a few feet in front of them, Crystal following.

"Is she a friend of yours Lloyd?" Colette asked, and Crystal almost laughed.

"Eh, not that I know of."

"Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" Sheena asked, though of course she knew the answer.

"Oh, that's me." Colette offered, taking a step forward.

"Hey! You're that Desian!" The silver haired boy pointed out, looking at Crystal.

"Boy that gets old." Crystal sighed, and Sheena smirked.

"Prepare to die!" She told Colette, racing forward.

Kratos wasted no time in charging at Crystal, but her lack of a sword seemed to catch him off guard. When he swung his sword at her, she jumped and kicked it out of his hand.

"Now that's more like it." She smirked, enjoying the surprise she saw in his eyes.

It didn't last long, however-he didn't notice him muttering incantations under his breath until it was too late.

"Take this! Grave!"

"Dammit!"

Crystal dove to the side as the ground was suddenly raised to meet her rather forcefully. She missed the main blast, but still received a number of wounds as a result of the onslaught of rock.

At that moment she heard Sheena cry out as she fell through a secret maintenance passage that opened when Colette apparently tripped over the switch that triggered it.

Everyone paused at that moment, listening to the ninja's cry as she fell. Kratos quickly focused back on the situation at hand, however, reaching out with lightning fast reflexes to yet again grab a handful of Crystal's hair.

"Remind me to get that cut." Crystal muttered as she winced.

"Who are you?" Kratos demanded as the others gathered around.

"It wouldn't matter if I told you. And you wouldn't believe me anyway."

"What's your name?" Colette asked.

"Why should I tell you my name?" Crystal answered, surprised that Lloyd and Lilly hadn't told the others of their encounter at the base the day before.

"Maybe we can be friends." The girl continued, much to the disbelief of everyone around her, Crystal included.

"Friends? I just tried to kill you! Well, not me exactly, thanks to mister grabby here. But you get the point. Why would you want to be friends with me after that?" Crystal asked, trying to move into a position that wasn't too painful.

"Well, if we were friends then you wouldn't try to kill me anymore, right?"

Crystal stopped moving for a moment, and simply stared at Colette, blinking slowly.

"I'm not sure if that was the dumbest thing I've ever heard, or the smartest. I guess you aren't as ditzy as you seem, Chosen. But I've no interest in becoming your friend. So it's time for me to go."

"You're incorrectly assuming I would let you leave." Kratos pointed out, bringing his sword to rest against her neck.

"You're incorrectly assuming you have a say in the matter." Crystal countered, then reached into her pocket and pulled something out, throwing it to the ground. It exploded in a cloud of smoke, and suddenly Kratos could no longer feel Crystal within his grasp.

"Whoa! Where did she go?" Lloyd questioned.

"Forget about her, Lloyd. It's not safe here." Lilly said.

"We should keep moving." Kratos put in, and the others agreed.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Sheena? Sheena! Where are you?" Crystal called out, searching the maintenance path for any sign of her raven haired friend.

The path was dark, due to most of the lights being burned out, so it was hard to see, leaving Crystal no choice but to rely on sound.

As she listened she heard the sound of rocks being moved, and as she approached the source of the sound she found Sheena.

"You alright?" She asked.

"Yeah. What happened up there? Did you get Colette?" Sheena asked, but Crystal shook her head. She then told her what happened.

"I really need to get my hair cut…" She sighed, running a hand over her ebony tresses.

"I could help you with that." Sheena offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Once we're at our next stop, I'll help you cut it."

"Okay, thanks. For now, let's get out of here."

So the two walked out of the passage, but once outside they found themselves face-to-face with the Chosen's group.

"W-wait!" Sheena called out.

"Wow, she caught up with us." Lloyd said.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Colette added, taking a step forward.

"Don't move!" Crystal ordered.

"A wise decision." The silver haired woman agreed.

_'Wait, she's agreeing with me?' _Crystal wondered.

"I won't be caught off guard this time! Prepare to die!" Sheena shouted, this time charging at Kratos before he could get to Crystal. Crystal went after Colette, who quickly whipped out her chakrams and prepared an attack.

The battle didn't last long. Kratos knocked Sheena back and Lloyd aided Colette, while Lilly and the silver haired boy and woman stayed in the back to cast spells.

Then Kratos, Colette and the silver haired boy all cast at the same time;

"Lightning Blade!"

"Para Ball!"

"Thunder Blade!"

The resulting electricity shooting through the air took both Crystal and Sheena out. They were on the ground in seconds, their clothes smoking and slightly singed.

"Ugh…Just you wait! I swear I will kill you all next time!" Sheena gasped out, and then she and Crystal disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Wait!" Lloyd shouted. "Why are people trying to kill us?"

"There are always those that reject salvation." Kratos put in.

"That assassin must be a Desian too, if she's working with that other girl." The silver haired boy said.

"Yes, perhaps. At any rate, we are in constant danger. That's all we have to know." Kratos added.

"Those clothes…" The silver haired woman said quietly.

"Professor, something wrong?" Lilly asked.

"No, it's nothing. Let's go."

"Yeah. Anyway, we gotta go find a ship." Lloyd agreed.

So the group continued on. From their perch higher up on the mountain, Crystal and Sheena listen to the conversation.

"So they're trying to find a ship to get to Palmacosta." Crystal said.

"Well, now we know where to wait for them next. It'll take them awhile to get there. We should report to Yuan in the meantime." Sheena suggested.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Still no luck?" Yuan asked.

"Not yet. But we'll get them; we just need a little more time." Sheena assured him before Crystal could speak.

"Very well. See that you do." Having time before their next encounter with Colette and the others, the two decided to stay at the base for the night and rest.

The two spent a few hours in the training room, and then went their separate ways for the night. Crystal headed to the library to do some research, but as she neared the door she heard voices from inside.

"What are you going to do with the Aurion girl?" That was from Botta.

"Nothing. I will handle it when the opportunity presents itself." Was that Yuan?

"Does she know about Kratos?"

"No. And I intend to keep it that way. We just need to keep all the records pertaining to that side of our mission out of her reach. She needn't discover the truth."

_'Truth? What truth? Are they hiding something from me?"_ Crystal wondered. She listened a few moments longer, but the conversation seemed to be over. Silently moving back down the hall, she went to see Sheena.

"Hey, change of plans. I'm gonna take off for the night. I'll meet you at the House of Salvation tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure. Is something wrong?"

"No, I just need to take care of something. I'll see you later."

"Okay. See ya later, Crystal."

"Goodbye, Sheena."

After speaking to Sheena, Crystal left the base and headed to Tethe'alla. She went first to the Renegade base their, determined to do some research on Kratos. So she went to the computer lab, but found that all the files pertaining to Kratos were password protected.

After several minutes Crystal finally realized that the password was "Triet Flanoir Sylvarant Tethe'alla" and opened the files. According to what she read, Kratos was born four thousand years ago, in Heimdall. But Crystal knew that, so why was it necessary to hide that from her? So she kept digging.

And then she found it, the reason that they were hiding things from her; Kratos was related to her. He had the same surname as she did. And the name wasn't terribly common, Crystal was sure, so it wasn't simply a coincidence.

But what would she do with this newfound knowledge? She weighed all the options, and decided that the best one would involve speaking to Kratos. But she didn't want to talk to him in front of everyone, so she would go at night, when everyone else was asleep.

Shutting down the computer, she left the base and headed back to Sylvarant, to the tiny port town of Izoold, where the Chosen was staying for the night. She only hoped she found Kratos without alerting everyone else.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Fortunately, luck was on Crystal's side. When she arrived in Izoold, she found Kratos standing outside with that strange pet she saw at Lloyd's house. She approached him silently, but he still knew she was there, and when she was close enough he drew his sword and pinned her to the side of the pen holding Noishe.

"You think to attack under the cover of darkness?" He growled.

"I do not wish to fight you. I only want to talk."

"Why should I believe that?"

"I can think of no reason that you should believe it. I only ask that you hear me out, and make your decision after you have listened to what I have to say. If you wish I will remain pinned by your sword. I won't try to free myself."

Kratos seemed to consider her words for a moment, and then nodded slightly.

"Speak."

_'What am I, a dog?'_ She thought, but didn't say it.

"I know who you are." She began, knowing she was playing a dangerous game.

"Who I am? I am a mercenary."

"I know you are more than that. And right now, I don't care. The only thing I'm interested in right now is your surname."

"My surname? Why would that interest you? Do you know someone who shares it?" Kratos asked, and Crystal smiled slightly.

"Yes, I do. Me."

"What?"

"My name is Crystal Aurion. I didn't know about your name until tonight, when I overheard a conversation about my superiors hiding something from me. When I heard your name come up I did some research, and discovered that we share the name. Somewhere down the line, we are related. I don't know how far down given your age, but I don't think the name is common enough for this to be mere coincidence."

Thinking over her words, Kratos pulled his sword away from her neck, and Crystal rubbed the raw skin gently.

"I agree that is not likely to be a coincidence. I was not aware of anyone that shared the name, however. This bears further research. In the meantime, what do you plan to do? I assume that no one knows you have come here."

"No, not yet anyway. When they discover that I broke through their password protection they'll figure it out soon enough, but until then I guess I'll act like nothing's changed. Oh, by the way, we were planning an attack at the House of Salvation near Palmacosta. Thought you should know. I better go now, before someone comes looking for me." Crystal said, and then turned to walk away.

"Crystal…" Kratos called after her, and she turned.

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

"You too."

0~0~0~0~0~0

The next morning Crystal met up with Sheena as planned.

"Get everything done last night?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's get ready."

But the Chosen's group took longer to reach the House of Salvation than they expected, and Sheena was in the middle of praying to Martel when they came in. Crystal wouldn't pray, but she was still standing nearby.

"…lla will suffer. Please, help me save everyone." She was saying when they walked in.

"Hey, what are you praying for?" Lloyd asked innocently.

"So I can save everyone." Sheena answered without thinking.

"Sheena!" Crystal hissed, getting her attention.

"Well, there's a nice thought." Lloyd smiled.

"Sh-shut up!"

"My name's Lloyd. What's yours?"

"What?" Crystal asked, tipping her head to the side curiously.

"Ah, I'm Colette. I'm still inexperienced as a Chosen, but I promise I'll do my best and regenerate the world." Colette threw in.

"And I'm Lilly." The young blonde woman added, though they already knew her name.

"I never asked for your names!" Sheena shouted.

"Oh, you're right. I'm sorry."

"We… we're trying to kill you!"

"I know. But if we just talk, I'm sure we can come to an understanding. I tried to talk to your friend last time too." Colette answered.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sheena asked, exasperated.

"I'm listening. But um… Ms. Assassin…"

"It's Sheena! Sheena Fujibayashi!"

"Sheena. You were praying. Praying makes one's heart grow. I pray, too. So I'm sure we can understand each other." Colette explained.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Crystal put in, but was pretty much ignored.

"I…I was praying that I'd be able to kill you…" Sheena answered simply.

"Wow…"

"Forget it! I lost my concentration! You'd better be ready next time!"

Then she and Crystal were gone in a cloud of smoke.

"I'd really love to know how they do that." Lloyd sighed.

Then the group turned to leave.

"Um, Mr. Kratos? Is something wrong? You've had an angry look on your face since we saw Sheena and her friend." Colette asked after they had been walking for several minutes.

"Nothing is wrong. I am merely thinking."

"You sure?" Lilly pressed.

"Yes. I am quite certain."

"Oh, okay…" Colette said, though neither girl seemed to believe him.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Hey, there's trouble in Palmacosta." Crystal told Sheena.

"What kind of trouble?"

"The Desian kind. They say Magnius is heading there. I'm gonna go check it out. You coming?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

So the two headed to Palmacosta. When they arrived they found that Magnius was already there, and about to hang a local shopkeeper.

"This woman defied the wishes of the great Lord Magnius and refused to provide us with supplies." A guard reported, "Therefore, while the designated death count has been exceeded, we have been granted orders to carry out this woman's execution!"

"Why isn't the city militia doing anything to stop this?" Crystal heard a voice behind her ask.

"Most of them are out on training exercises right now." Someone answered.

"The Desians must have waited for this opportunity, the slimy jerks!" Came another voice, echoing Crystal's thoughts.

"Mom!" A young woman shouted, running through the crowd that had gathered.

"Hey, wait! Don't go up there!" Sheena called, reaching out to her but missing.

Magnius waved a hand to the guard on the platform with the shopkeeper, signifying that he wanted him to hang the woman.

"No!"

Before anything could be done, a small child in the crowd began throwing rocks at Magnius.

"You… disgusting little vermin!" Magnius shouted, turning toward the kid.

"Stop right there!" A voice shouted, distracting Magnius while Crystal got the kid away from Magnius.

When Crystal looked to the source of the distraction, she saw that Lloyd and the rest of the Chosen's group had gathered. Her eyes moved over the group, eventually settling on Kratos, who looked up at that same moment.

When he saw her he nodded once, and she smiled slightly. Then they turned back to the situation at hand. There was a mild fight between them and the soldiers accompanying Magnius, in which Sheena and Crystal helped out, and when the guards were defeated Magnius went to hang the woman himself.

The platform was removed out from under the woman, who hung briefly for a moment while everyone stood in shock, before Colette and Crystal sprung into action.

"No!" They both cried, and Colette threw a chakram at the rope holding the woman while Crystal ran to her side to help her away from the area.

While Magnius was distracted by the chakram flying through the air, Kratos ran forward and attacked him before he could do anything else.

"Let us respect the wishes of the Chosen." He calmly stated, sheathing his sword.

The townspeople began to talk among themselves when they heard that. They hadn't realized that it was the Chosen who had come to save them, so it was a pretty big deal.

After this the Desians left, and the shopkeeper, who gave her name as Cacao, invited everyone back to her home. Sheena and Crystal politely declined, saying that they had to go. After agreeing to meet up at the town gate later that night, they went their separate ways for the day.

**Hope you liked it! Read and review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N; Thanks for all the reviews and faves and alerts! You guys rock! It's really awesome to know that you like my story so much!  
Here's the next chapter. It's a little long again, but not as long as last time. I think. Enjoy!  
**

"Thank you so much for saving my mom! I don't know what I would have done if they'd murdered my mom as well…" Chocolat said. The group had joined Cacao and Chocolat in their home, where the women thanked them repeatedly. They were now gathered in the kitchen.

"As well…?" Genis questioned, and Cacao nodded.

"My husband volunteered in Governor-General Dorr's army… and was killed in a battle against the Desians. And my mother… was taken to the ranch."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Lilly said, bowing her head slightly.

"It was Grandma that originally founded our shop. We have to protect it, not just for ourselves, but also for Grandma's sake, for when she returns." Chocolat offered. Before anyone could speak again they heard the front door open, and a young man's voice echoed through the room.

"Chocolat, Cacao! Are you here?"

A tall, lanky teenager entered the kitchen then, and sighed in relief when he saw the women.

"There you are! Are you alright? I heard what happened."

"We're fine, Gene. The Chosen and her friends helped us."

Gene looked over at the others at that point, seeing them for the first time.

"Oh, thank you very much for saving them. I really appreciate it. I'm Gene, a friend of the family." He said, then looked back to Chocolat.

"We need to get going soon, Choco."

"Oh, right! It's almost time for the next Asgard pilgrimage."

"Asgard Pilgrimage?" Lloyd questioned.

"Gene and I work at the Church of Martel Travel Agency. But it's not like I believe in Martel or anything." Chocolat explained, and her mother gasped.

"Chocolat, how can you say that?"

"I know, I know. I'm grateful for the Chosen." Chocolat conceded, then continued, "But Martel didn't protect Dad or Grandma."

Gene spoke up then, agreeing with Chocolat.

"And this time it wasn't even Martel, but the Chosen and her companions that saved you, Cacao. How can anyone believe in a goddess that sleeps while we suffer?"

"I understand that, but I still think that Martel exists." Colette put in.

"You think…?" Gene echoed skeptically.

"I'm sure of it. Martel lives inside of you and me, and everyone." Colette amended.

"Well, if the Chosen says so…then I'll at least try to believe." Chocolat answered, but Gene still looked unconvinced.

"Are there really people that want to go on a trip right after what just happened here?" Lloyd questioned, smoothly changing the subject.

"It's after events like this that both those with and without faith feel the need to go on a journey in search of salvation." Kratos explained.

"That pretty much sums it up. Well, thank you very much! Now we have to go." Chocolat said, then she and Gene left the room.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Crystal went to the inn to reserve a room, hoping to have some time to rest before she left the city. But as she laid on the bed she heard a knock at the door.

"Yes?" She called and the door opened, revealing Yuan standing in the hallway.

"L-Lord Yuan! Is something wrong?" Crystal asked, immediately standing up.

"I heard about your late night visit to the Tethe'alla base."

"Yes, I wanted to do some research."

"Research that involved locked files?" He asked pointedly.

"Yes, Sir." Crystal stated calmly.

"Why?"

"I needed to know. Why would you keep that from me, Sir? Don't you think I have the right to know if he's part of my family? Don't I deserve to know the truth?"

"I didn't want you to know because I knew it would affect your duties as one of my officers." Yuan said.

That bothered Crystal. He would keep the truth from her to ensure that she did her job?

"It won't affect my work." She insisted.

"Oh, really? So you're saying that you can still fight him, even knowing that you're related?"

"What if we don't have to fight? I can travel with them and give you information, and you can use that to plan your next move."

"And they're just going to let you travel with them?" Yuan questioned, skeptical.

"They may not like it at first, but they would eventually accept it. I know Kratos would."

"You already talked to him?"

"Yeah, I did. He would let me join them, I know he would." Crystal said.

"Hm… perhaps we can use this, then. Fine, join them if you wish. But you will provide me with the information I need."

"Yes Sir. Thank you Sir."

"Don't thank me. I'm only allowing this because you and Sheena have failed thus far. Speaking of Sheena, I will speak with her, inform her of this… new development." Yuan said, moving to the door.

Once there, he stopped and turned to look back at Crystal again. "I will give her the option of joining you, but if she refuses then our original agreement still stands. She may still attack the Chosen at any time. It's her choice."

"Yes Sir."

Then Yuan left, and Crystal laid down on the bed.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Sheena came to see Crystal, and told her that they wouldn't be meeting up that night. Once she was alone again, Crystal sighed.

She hoped she was doing the right thing. She knew it wouldn't be easy to convince the others to accept her—Kratos himself barely did. If it weren't for the fact that they were related, he likely would have refused her too.

But now that she knew the truth she was glad she had spoken with him, at the very least. She knew she couldn't keep attacking him. She couldn't fight the only true family she might have. Shaking off her thoughts, Crystal prepared to leave the city.

She was in the House of Salvation a couple hours later when she heard the familiar voice of Colette outside. Knowing she couldn't allow herself to be seen by them, Crystal ran to the stairs and a few moments later they came inside.

She remained out of their line of sight while they prayed at the altar, but she could see them well from her perch at the top of the stairs. Though he did nothing that made her think it, she had a feeling that Kratos knew she was there.

After a few minutes they left, and after a few moments Crystal went downstairs. Before they got far, Crystal heard a man calling for the Chosen.

"I have a message from Dorr. He would like you to temporarily postpone the journey of regeneration." The man said.

"What is this about?" Kratos asked warily.

"A Church of Martel pilgrimage tour guide has been kidnapped by the Desians," He began, slightly breathless, "In light of this, Dorr has decided that this is the time to gather Palmacosta's forces and launch an attack on the human ranch controlled by Magnius."

"What does that have to do with us?" Lloyd asked.

"We would like you to rescue the kidnapped tour guide in concert with our attack."

"Who is this kidnapped tour guide?" Colette asked.

"Her name is Chocolat."

"Chocolat? Does that mean that Gene has been captured too?" Lilly questioned.

"I do not know all the details. I only know that Chocolat was captured while escorting a group of travelers. It is likely that anyone who was in the group was captured as well."

"Oh no… Lloyd, let's help them." Colette said.

"Yeah, we can't just leave her there."

"Thank you! Neil will inform you of the details once you reach the ranch. Thank you so much for your help." The man said, bowing slightly—as much as he could within the confines of his heavy armor. Then he turned to leave, and the others followed suit.

"Wait!"

Turning back, they saw Crystal.

"You! What do you want?" The little silver haired boy said, grabbing his weapon.

"I'm not here to fight." Crystal quickly assured them, putting her hands up in a show of surrender.

"Then why are you here?"

"I heard that you were going to the human ranch. I… I want to come with you."

"What? Why should we trust you? This could be a trap!" Lloyd said.

Crystal didn't answer right away. She couldn't. How could she tell them the truth-they were her enemies! Well, not Kratos anymore really, but otherwise.

Unfortunately, her lack of response was making the others suspicious.

"You can't come with us, sorry." The silver haired woman, Professor something-or-other, said, and turned away.

"What?" Colette, Lilly and Crystal questioned in unison.

"If you can't give us a good reason for wanting to come, then you're better off staying behind. We have no time for your tricks."

"Look, it's not that I can't give you a reason. It's just that… it's kinda hard to talk about, okay?" Crystal began hesitantly.

"My… my family is in that ranch. I've been trying to find a way to save them-that's how I ended up fighting you all." She paused then, looking over the group. She saw sympathy on most of their faces, at least on the ones Crystal thought would matter.

"I'm sorry for that, and I promise it won't happen again. Please, just… let me come with you." Crystal pleaded.

Everyone was silent for a long moment. Just when Crystal was nearly ready to give up, Lloyd spoke.

"Okay… come on."

"You're going to let her come?" The Professor asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, I am. I know how it feels to be told you can't go when you really want to, and she seems to have a really important reason." He said, thinking about how he wasn't supposed to accompany Colette on her journey either.

"I agree. I think we should let her come." Lilly said.

"Assuming she's telling the truth." The silver haired boy muttered.

"I sense no deception from her." Kratos put in, earning a grateful smile from Crystal.

"Yeah, I don't think someone would lie about something like that, Genis." Colette said.

"Surprisingly, I believe she is telling the truth as well." The Professor added, scowling.

"And besides, if she is still our enemy, wouldn't it make sense to keep her close by so we could watch her? That way we know what she's doing all the time." Lilly suggested.

"That's not a bad idea."

"Anyway, it's been decided—you can come. Just don't try anything funny, okay?" Lloyd said. The last comment seemed to be put in as a plea, perhaps as an attempt to satisfy the others.

"Yeah, I'll be watching you." The silver haired boy added.

And Crystal nodded, bowing her head deeply.

"Thank you very much. I give you my word I will not betray you."

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Ow…"

"Gene? I-Is that you?" Chocolat's voice echoed through the small cell the two teens were in.

"Yeah, it's me. You okay?"

"I think s-so."

Rising to his feet, Gene found that he was weak and shaky. Falling to his knees, he began to feel his way around the dark cell, running his hand over the cold metal walls until he found the door.

"Locked tight of course." He mumbled. Oh well, had to try. Using the handle of the door to pull himself up, he peered out the small window. The light in the hallway was dim, but enough to show that there were two guards outside the door.

_"No way we're going to escape through here." _He thought, then slowly slid his hand along the wall leading to the side of the cell Chocolat was sitting on.

Now that he had been awake in the darkness for awhile his eyes were beginning to adjust to it, and he could just make out Chocolat's shadowy form on the small bed in the corner.

Apparently she hadn't heard him coming, and gasped when he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't think we're going to get out of here until they open the cell. But we've gotta come up with a plan of what to do when they come for us." He said.

"What makes you think they'll come for us at all?" Chocolat asked, sniffling a bit.

"Well I don't think they captured us just to let us sit in here and rot. They have to be planning something."

"Why don't we just wait for Governor General Dorr to save us? Once he hears about our capture, I'm sure he'll organize a rescue mission."

"You really want to sit here and wait for that? Who knows what the Desians have planned for us! They may be coming for us right now. That's why we have to be ready for them." Gene insisted.

Chocolat thought about it in silence for a moment. She was frightened, of course, but she knew Gene was right-they had to do something.

Being the scared little girl was never her style anyway. Where was the woman who had argued with the Desian soldiers who wanted to purchase supplies from the shop yesterday? That was more like her.

With a sharp nod, barely visible in the dark, she turned to Gene again.

"Okay, let's do it."

"Alright, that's the spirit. Now, here's what I have in mind…"

0~0~0~0~0~0

Now that they were traveling together, Crystal was introduced to the rest of the group.

She already knew Lloyd, Lilly, Colette and Kratos of course, and Lilly had given her name at their previous encounter as well, but she was introduced to the silver haired woman and boy, Professor Raine Sage and her brother Genis.

Crystal introduced herself, and the group continued on in silence for a few minutes until Colette spoke.

"Hey, you cut your hair!"

"Well yeah, had to do something to keep it from being grabbed all the time." Crystal answered, fingering her shorter hair.

She used to keep it at the middle of her back, but now it barely touched her shoulder. In a way she almost missed the long waves spilling down her back, but she had to admit that it was easier to care for now.

After a moment she felt a familiar tug on her hair, and looked up to find a handful of it in Kratos' hand.

"It is still long enough to hold on to." He said with a smirk.

"Well I wasn't going to shave my head! Besides, I'm on your side now, so you shouldn't have to be grabbing my hair anyway." Crystal said, then lowered her voice so only Kratos would hear the next thing she said. "Be quiet before I start calling you 'uncle'."

Colette and Lilly could be heard giggling nearby.

A short time later, the group could see the outline of the ranch, its stark stone walls a sharp contrast with the setting sun behind it.

When they approached the ranch nearly another hour later, they were stopped by Neil, Dorr's assistant.

"Everyone, I must speak with you."

"From the sound of it, you don't have very good news for us." Kratos said as the man led them away from the ranch.

"I must ask that you leave this area immediately."

"What? But we're supposed to be working with the Palmacosta militia to infiltrate the ranch so we can save everyone!" Colette told him.

"Ah, no… That was…."

"Then it was a trap." Kratos put in.

"Oh, no…" Lilly moaned.

"Of all the possibilities, it looks like the worst came true." Raine sighed.

"I'd heard rumors of it, but I'd always hoped they were false…" Crystal added.

"What? What are talking about?" Lloyd asked, looking between the four.

"It was a mystery that the Desians would simply leave a city with an army alone." Kratos explained, and Raine nodded.

"Yes, exactly. Choosing not to crush the seeds of rebellion must mean they are not a threat… They are left alone simply because they have no real power, or perhaps, because they are in fact beneficial…"

"How did you know about it?" Genis asked Crystal.

"I worked for the Desians, remember? The group I worked for recently, the one that sent me after you, wasn't involved with the rest of them." She began, choosing her words carefully to make sure she didn't reveal anything about the Renegades.

"But I still knew what was going on-last year I was sent to collect the money that Dorr was paying them."

"I thought you looked familiar when I saw you the other day. I must have seen you in the office once or twice." Neil said, looking at Crystal.

"Yes, possibly. But generally I tried to stay out of sight, only coming in through the basement passage. Anyway, can we focus on what's important here? We have to get into that ranch." Crystal answered.

"Haven't you been listening? It's too dangerous-you can't go in there!" Neil protested.

"I have to get in there. My family is in there. I won't leave them."

"Your family is in there? When were they taken?"

"Two years ago. That's how I got involved with Magnius and ended up working for the Desians. I've been trying to get them out ever since, and I won't give up now that I'm this close." Crystal said, then looked at Lloyd and the others.

"If you don't want to go in that's fine. But I'm not leaving. I'll go in alone if I have to."

"You won't be alone, Crystal. We'll go with you. Won't we Lloyd?" Colette said.

"Yeah. We'll help you. The people in the ranch are suffering; we can't just abandon them. We're in."

"Thank you. Thank you very much. That means a lot to me."

"You can't go in there now. Entering the ranch now will put you all in danger. Leave Chocolat and the others to me and please, go on your way. Please, just regenerate the world as soon as possible." Neil spoke up.

"No! I can't just ignore this!" Colette said, shaking her fists.

"Colette's right. If we leave things as they are now, Palmacosta may be destroyed just like Iselia. You think so, too, don't you, Lloyd?" Genis put in.

"Yes, what you say is true. But I still side with Neil. If you don't want to see cities destroyed, you should avoid contact with the Desians." Raine said.

"No, that's not right. Regenerating the world and saving the people in front of us are not exclusive of each other. That's what I think." Colette pressed.

"We can't just leave them in there to wait for the soldiers. We're here now. We have to help them!" Lilly added. Then she looked to Kratos, the only member of the group to remain silent.

"Kratos, what do you think?"

But Kratos hesitated. In truth, he was torn between the two options-go in or leave. Part of him wanted to go in and save Crystal's family, hoping to get the truth about her family line from them. On the other hand, he knew the safer course of action-and the one that he should choose in keeping with his orders-would be to leave.

Looking over the faces before him, he contemplated his answer. But when his eyes met Crystal's, he knew what he had to say.

"We should save them, if we can."

"That's right!" Colette agreed, and most of the others nodded.

"If that is how you feel, Colette, then we do not have any right to stop you. The only one who has the right to make decisions on this journey is you, the Chosen One. Is that all right with you, Lloyd?" Raine said, looking to the younger swordsman.

"That was my intention from the beginning. Remember what I said? I'm going to destroy them all." Lloyd nodded.

"Still…" Neil tried again.

"It's all right. Colette is saying this is what she wants." Genis told him.

"Now, there are two courses we can take. The first is to infiltrate the ranch now and rescue Chocolat and the other captives. As things stand now, if we leave the ranch alone it will surely result in a second Iselia." Raine explained, sighing deeply as she looked at the ranch.

"The other option is to return to Palmacosta and speak to Dorr. If he has planned a trap then he may know the layout of the ranch well." She continued, and Kratos nodded.

"Thinking logically, the best course would be to deal with Dorr first."

"What do you think, Lloyd?" Colette asked.

"We can't worry about their trap! If we have to, we'll fight our way through. But we're going in now. We can't leave Chocolat in there any longer. And the same goes for Crystal's family. They've been in there for two years! We have to get them out!"

"You got it! Count me in!" Genis said.

"Me too. I'm sure Chocolat is scared and lonely by herself." Colette added.

Raine didn't agree with the idea, but went along with it. Kratos would have preferred to return to Palmacosta first as long as he knew they would return quickly, but he too went without complaint.

Before they got far, though, Neil requested that he be allowed to go in with them.

After thinking it over for a moment, Lloyd nodded.

"Alright, come on."

"Are you sure? It's going to be dangerous." Genis questioned.

"Yeah. Remember what I said to Crystal? I know how it feels to be told no. So yeah, I'm going to let him come."

"Thank you. I promise I won't get in the way." Neil said.

"Now, we're going to have to fight our way through the front door. Everyone get ready." Raine said.

"Actually, we won't." Crystal put in. Everyone looked at her, Raine and Genis even appearing slightly suspicious.

"I have the access codes. I can just enter it in the computer terminal by the door and we're good to go." She continued simply.

"Oh. That's really helpful!" Colette chimed in.

"Let's go then."

The group had to fight through a group of Desians to get to the door, but once there Crystal input the code and the door opened.

"Okay, let's get this over with."

0~0~0~0~0~0

The creaking of the cell door informed Gene and Chocolat that it was nearly time to implement their plan. The pale light of the hallway filtered in and washed over their faces, as two soldiers stood in the doorway.

"Time to go, scum." One of them said, and they walked over to where Gene stood in front of Chocolat protectively.

"Where are you taking us?" Chocolat whimpered as one of the men grabbed her. She didn't receive an answer.

Out in the hallway she cast a sideways glance at Gene, who was staring at the ceiling like it was suddenly the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Hey, get moving!" The other guard said, pushing Gene forward roughly.

"When do you think this place was built?" He asked conversationally.

"What?"

Gene repeated the question, sighing and reaching out a hand, running it along the wall.

"I'm studying architecture at the Palmacosta Academy, and I was trying to figure out when this structure was built. It looks like ancient Asgardian design to me. Do you have any idea?"

When the guard didn't respond he continued.

"Man, I'd love to get a look at the blueprints… D'ya think you could arrange that? I mean if you're gonna kill me, the least you could do is grant me one last wish."

"Be quiet!" The soldier shouted, pushing him again.

"Okay, okay… no need to be so rude. Geez!"

At this point Chocolat had to hold back a giggle. It was almost funny to hear Gene going on about the architecture while they were being taken to their very probable death/torture.

They walked in silence for awhile, and as they continued through several empty hallways Gene spoke again.

"I'd really love to see those blueprints."

"Too bad! It's not gonna happen, so why don't you shut your trap?"

"Ooh, scary…" Gene mocked, pretending to be afraid.

Chocolat was worried now. She didn't know all the details of what Gene's plan entailed for distracting the guards, but she was fairly certain it didn't include angering them.

She looked over at him and found him watching her. When the guards looked away, thankful for a moment of silence, Gene mouthed the words 'get ready'. Chocolat nodded once.

"Hey, do you guys thing I could get something to eat? I'm starving! You haven't fed us since we've been here, and I could really go for some curry right… about… now!"

That was Chocolat's cue. Using all the weight her small frame could muster, she slammed into the guard behind her, knocking him off balance.

Gene did the same to his guard, then quickly whipped around and grabbed the man's sword, hitting them over the head with the hilt. It knocked out one and dazed the other, but still gave the teens the advantage they needed to get away from the soldiers.

"Come on Chocolat, run!" Gene said, grabbing her hand and hurrying down the hall.

"Where are we going? We don't even know where the door is!"

"So we'll run until we find it!"

"Gene! That's not a good answer! What about… computer lab… or something!" Chocolat suggested between gasps.

"You… take computer classes… at the academy?" Gene countered, trying to catch his breath.

He had a point. Even if they did find a computer, neither of them knew how to use it. They would likely be recaptured while trying to figure out how to bring up a map.

"Okay… so we run!"

"Agreed!"

0~0~0~0~0~0

"This is where the prisoners are being held." Crystal said, pointing out a room on a ranch-wide map she brought up on a computer. They'd had to fight their way through a lot of hallways to reach this room, so it was a welcome sight to find it empty.

Crystal knew it was only a matter of time before they were discovered, though, so it would be a short break.

"Shouldn't be too hard to get there." Lloyd said, bringing Crystal's attention back to the map.

"And I may be able to help with any obstacles we come across. I know this ranch pretty well. We shouldn't stay here long. It won't take much time for them to realize I've accessed their computer."

As if to confirm her words, an alarm sounded overhead and the computer was locked down.

"Uh-oh! Sounds like they found us! We better hurry up and get this over with." Lloyd said as the group ran from the room.

"That was too fast… they shouldn't have been able to find us that easily." Crystal countered.

"Maybe they found us because they already knew we were coming. It was a trap, remember?" Lilly suggested.

"Maybe…"

Leaving that room, they found the hallway to be empty. For several minutes they ran unhindered, but when they entered an Exsphere storage room they were quickly surrounded by Desian soldiers.

"What are you doing here?" One of them questioned, then looked at Crystal.

"Lady Crystal! I didn't know you would be coming today!"

"Well, if I took the time to tell everyone my plans, I'd never get anything done. These are representatives from Palmacosta. They're here to see Lord Magnius, to discuss the non-aggression treaty with Palmacosta."

"A non-aggression treaty? I hadn't heard anything about that. Well, good luck. Magnius isn't in a good mood today." The soldier said, and Crystal forced a laugh.

"Is he ever in a good mood? I'll deal with him like I always have. Excuse us, soldier."

Then the soldiers moved aside to let the group pass, and they continued on.

"Wow… great job, Crystal! I thought we were in trouble for a minute." Lloyd said.

"Don't relax just yet. We may yet be in trouble." Kratos warned quietly as they entered another room filled with soldiers.

"Halt!"

Luckily, the apparent leader was someone Crystal knew.

"Please stand aside, Keiran. I need to take these people to Magnius."

"To discuss the peace treaty? Yeah, right. You aren't one of us anymore."

"What are you talking about? I'm still-"

"Silence, traitor!" Keiran shouted, and prepared to attack.

"Stand down, Keiran." A woman's voice echoed through the room.

"Can't you see that these people have brought us a gift? You can't kill such thoughtful people."

The owner of the voice came up behind Keiran then. She was tall, with hazel eyes and brown hair, and wore a scarlet coat with black pants and a beret.

"Lilith? What are you doing here?" Crystal cried.

"I would think that was obvious, Crystal. I work here. I run this ranch."

"What? Magnius is the leader of this ranch, not you. Stop this nonsense, Lilith. Come back with me."

"Come back? Run away, you mean. Like you did. How could you turn away from this? You could have ruled your own ranch! Don't you wantthat?" Lilith questioned, waving her arms expressively.

"No! I never wanted that! I wanted out! What happened to you, Lilith? How could you do this?"

"You know, I don't really owe you an explanation." Lilith said, shaking her head and turning away.

"Lilith, wait! Don't do this!" Crystal pleaded, but her cries fell on deaf ears.

"You got me involved in all this, so don't blame me for wanting more. Goodbye, Crystal. Good luck getting out of here alive." Lilith continued, then made her escape while Crystal and the others fought off the soldiers sent to attack them.

A moment later an alarm sounded.

"I guess Lilith must have told them we were here." Colette said.

"They already knew we were here. Lilith just told them to hunt us down and kill us."

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Come on, Choco, we have to hurry."

"I know. I just need a minute."

The two had been running for several minutes and had yet to find stairs, or even an elevator, anything to tell them what floor they were on and how far they had to go.

Chocolat was out of breath and her body was aching, and she knew that she couldn't go on without a small break. After a minute, she looked up at Gene and nodded.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."

So they continued on, following a long hallway until they reached its end. The hallway was lined with closed doors, so Gene began checking each of them, finding that most were simply small rooms.

He finally found one that opened to a larger room with a second door on the opposite side of the room, and decided to check it out. The door revealed another hallway, so he and Chocolat ran down it.

After awhile the hallway led to a dark room, and as they made their way through it Gene's foot caught on something on the floor.

"What the-" He began, but stopped when he heard a small moan of protest at the contact.

"Hello?" He whispered, straining his eyes to see even the faintest outline of what-or rather who- he had come across.

His answer came in the form of a deep, but raspy, voice.

"W-who are you?"

"Prisoners." Gene answered simply.

"If… you are prisoners… where are your… guards?"

"We escaped them. We're getting out of here. You could come with us." Gene answered, but the man only chuckled weakly.

"No… I would only… slow you down. I have no time left. You… go, get out of here."

"Are you sure? You really want to lay here and die? We can take you with us-come on!" Chocolat persuaded.

"No, I would… be a burden. I… cannot walk. Take this, and go." The man continued, pressing something into Gene's hand. In the dark room he couldn't tell what it was, but it gave off a faint dull glow.

"No you must hurry! Go… before they find you…"

"Okay. What's your name?"

"Marcus… Marcus Kirkson."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: As usual, thanks for all the reviews and alerts! Okay, this one is a touch darker than normal.**

**Chapter Five**

Once on the top floor, Lloyd and the others hurried to the prison block. When they reached it they found that it was full of prisoners, but Gene and Chocolat were nowhere in sight.

"Do you think they escaped?" Colette asked hopefully.

"It's possible. Let's look around."

As they walked down a long hallway, they found a guard laying unconscious on the floor. Lloyd nudged him with his foot, but he didn't stir.

"Lloyd, leave him alone. We don't exactly want him waking up right now." Lilly told him. They moved on, and came to a long, dead-end hallway, and found that most of the doors were locked.

When they finally found one that was open they entered the room and went through the door on the opposite side of it, which led them down another hallway and into a dark room. With the light from the hallway shining in briefly, they were able to make out the faint outline of bodies in the middle of the room.

They moved through the room quickly, a strong metallic scent assaulting their noses and making their eyes water.

"Chocolat?" Crystal asked, and the dark figures stirred slightly.

"Crystal? Is that you?"

"Crystal…?" A scratchy voice echoed.

"What…? Who's there?"

"Crystal, it's your dad." Chocolat said softly.

"Dad?" Crystal breathed, falling to her knees beside the dark form. She reached out a trembling hand to find his, but in the darkness she found only a shred of his shirt.

"We have to get you out of here!" Crystal insisted, then turned to look at the others.

"Please, you have to help me!"

"Of course we'll help! Come on, guys, help me stand him up." Lloyd said, looking to the shadowy forms of Genis and Kratos.

Crystal moved her hand up toward his shoulder, shuddering as she felt the blood staining her hand.

"No, wait… there's no… time. I'll only slow you down. You… must go." Marcus insisted.

Crystal's heart raced as she listened to her father speak. Leave him there? No way! How could he even suggest such a thing?

"We can't just leave you here!"

She tried to help him into an upright position, but it proved difficult. It was as though some force was preventing it.

"Listen… to me, Crystal. I cannot… walk. You must get out of her… while you… can."

He tried to pull out of her grasp, urging her to go, but she only held on tighter. Raising a weak hand to her face, he felt a stream of warm tears on her cheek. He opened his mouth to speak again, but she beat him to it.

"You can't walk? Maybe we can heal you! Raine, Lilly, please! Can you try to heal him?"

The healers stepped forward uncertainly, worried that they may not succeed. They weren't sure of the extent of Marcus' injuries, but they could tell that his mana was dangerously low.

That in itself would prove to be a challenging opponent in healing Palmacosta's hero.

"You cannot… heal this, Crystal. There is… nothing to be… done. My legs, they…" Marcus began. But he couldn't bring himself to continue.

"What? Your legs are what? Dad, talk to me! Please!" Crystal begged, her hand on his shoulder gripping tighter.

But he refused to answer.

"To think… a great war hero… reduced to this…" He mumbled instead.

Crystal knew she had to see what he was talking about.

"Someone get some light! Now!"

She was afraid of what the light would reveal, but she had to know.

"To die in such a wretched condition…"

"Don't say that! You're not going to die in here!" Crystal's voice shook.

A shuddering cough wracked Marcus' frail frame. Crystal put an arm under his shoulders to hold him steady. She could hear the rattling wheeze of his breath as she knelt closer to him.

"Crystal… I have accepted it… so should you…"

She would never accept that. She couldn't understand how her father could be so calm about it. Why was he so ready to die?

She could hear the others scrambling behind her, trying to find some form of light, even if it were small. But they were taking too long.

"Where's that damn light?"

Finally a small flicker of light came from behind Crystal, from Raine using a light spell on her staff.

Crystal gasped when she saw her father's condition, hardly believing what she saw. He was battered and bruised, with blood seeping from wounds all over his body. His clothes were torn and dirty, his hair also matted with dirt and blood.

Her breath caught in her throat when she looked at his legs, however. They weren't torn up, scratched, bloody or even bruised.

They were just… gone.

"Oh my g-" Crystal began, but found that she couldn't continue. She could barely breathe, and her head swam.

She could hear the quiet murmurings of everyone around her, but she wasn't listening. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe… she felt numb.

But at the same time, her body ached. She felt as though a giant stone were laying on her chest, smothering her.

"You see… I would be a burden to you. You must go… while you can. The Desians… will be here soon… you must leave… before they find you…" Marcus told her.

"I c-can't!" She cried brokenly, "I can't do this… please, d-don't leave me!"

Knowing that she would not leave on her own, Marcus peered through the faint light at each of her companion's faces. Who would she listen to? Or in this case, who would she not try to fight for physically removing her from the room?

Finally, he saw Kratos, and his dull eyes lit up in recognition.

"You… are Kratos…" He whispered, raising a weak hand to beckon the mercenary closer.

"I am."

"Please… take my daughter… out of this wretched place. I do not… want her to be here… at the end."

"What? Dad, no! I won't leave you!" Crystal interrupted, but the men appeared not to have heard her.

"I understand."

"Thank you. Here… take this… it will answer… many questions…"

Kratos looked down at the slip of paper Marcus pressed into his hand, but in the dim light he couldn't make out the words written on it.

"Now… go."

Crystal flinched when Kratos laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Crystal, we must leave."

"No!" She cried, latching onto her father all the more tightly.

Kratos didn't speak again. Instead, he gently put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to her feet, prying her away from her father and leading her toward the door. The others followed close behind.

Crystal's sobs made Kratos' heart ache, but he knew he couldn't turn back-to do so would mean certain capture and possibly death. But that didn't make it any easier.

Out in the hallway, everyone took a moment to adjust to the bright light.

"Now that you have found Chocolat and Gene, I will go and locate the rest of the captives." Neil said reminding everyone that he was still there.

"Alright. Be careful." Lloyd said.

"Crystal, do you want to come with me to find the rest of your family?"

"No. I'm going after Magnius." Crystal answered, her voice low and angry.

"I can take you to where Magnius should be." Chocolat offered.

"You guys should go with Neil. It would be safer." Lilly said, looking at her and Gene.

"No way! You guys came to save us—we have to do this." Gene spoke up.

"Okay, but it's gonna be dangerous."

"We know."

So Gene and Chocolat led them to a large, dark room, and as they walked in a deep voice sounded throughout the room.

"So, the forsaken Chosen and her entourage of vermin have finally arrived."

"For…saken?" Kratos echoed.

"You're the one who's forsaken, Magnius. Your time is up!" Lloyd said, peering through the darkness.

Suddenly the room filled with light, and the group saw Magnius sitting on a chair suspended from the ceiling.

"What…? How does he do that?" Colette questioned.

"Who cares?"

"Oh, right. Good point."

"What do you hope to accomplish by this?" He continued, laughing.

"Even if you manage to defeat me, there are others who would take my place and keep this ranch running. Isn't that right, girl?" Magnius said, looking at Crystal. She didn't answer in words, but her eyes glared daggers.

"We'll just take care of them after we take care of you!" Lloyd said.

"Big words from the one who's actions caused the destruction of Iselia." Magnius taunted.

"Th-that's-!" Both Lloyd and Lilly flinched as if struck.

"Iselia? What happened there?" Crystal wondered, but no one answered.

"I know, how about I recreate that situation here?" Magnius suggested, laughing cruelly.

"No! Stop!"

"Oh, it's no trouble. I'll remove the prisoner's Exspheres and turn them all into monsters. Then you can kill them, too, just like that old lady you killed-just like Marble!"

"Marble…? You don't mean…?" Chocolat, who had been silently waiting in the corner of the room, spoke up at this.

"Oh but I do, my little Chocolat. Dear old Grandma Marble was sent to the Iselia Human Ranch where she was killed by Lloyd."

"No…" Chocolat whimpered.

"No… it can't be true…" Gene whispered shakily.

"Wait! That's not the way it happened! The Desians turned her into a monster-" Genis began.

"And Lloyd and Lilly killed her. I hear she met a pitiful end." Magnius interrupted.

Chocolat gasped and backed away from Colette and the others, and when she reached the door she was apprehended by soldiers.

"Chocolat! Dammit, let her go!" Lloyd said.

"Leave me alone! I don't wanna be saved by grandma's murderer! I'd rather die!"

"But she isn't dead!" Lilly protested.

"That's right! Marble's still alive! Lilly saved her life!" Genis said.

"She's… not dead?" Gene echoed.

"No, you're lying! Leave me alone!" Then she was taken away by the soldiers.

"Your little lie didn't fool her, you miserable vermin!" Magnius laughed.

Crystal couldn't stand listening to him. She didn't know who this 'Marble' was, but she wouldn't just stand by and listen to Magnius lie about her death. Readying her weapons, she pulled a knife from her belt and hurled it at him.

"You're the liar, you bastard! She isn't dead!" Though she technically didn't know that for a fact, she felt confident that it was true just from listening to Lloyd, Genis and Lilly.

"Wait! Tell me… is she really still alive?" Gene questioned.

"Yeas, she is. They wanted us to kill her but Lilly saved her. She's fine. She's in Triet right now."

"What? You're lying! Forcystus assured me the woman was dead!" Magnius railed.

"Well then you should have a talk with him and find out who's lying, don't you think?" Lilly countered.

"You disgusting little vermin!" Magnius railed, getting up out of the chair and jumping to the ground. Once his feet were firmly planted he pulled out his weapon, a huge axe strapped to his back.

"I'll deal with you myself!" He yelled as he charged them, some of his soldiers following. Everyone else drew their weapons as well, and the fight began.

Lloyd directed Raine, Colette and Genis to the back, Raine for using healing spells when necessary, Genis and Colette protecting the Professor. Lloyd and Kratos faced Magnius while Crystal and Lilly took out his guards.

Magnius' grin was feral as he circled around to his left. Lloyd pivoted after him, keeping the point of his sword aimed between Magnius' eyes.

He was a big man, a fraction taller than the tallest man in their group, Kratos, and a fraction heavier — he was also a good ten years older than Lloyd.

_"I'll wait,"_ Magnius thought as they circled each other warily, _"let him take the offensive, wear himself out with the first attacks."_

He barely saw the spinning kick coming in time to leap back. He was so focused on the vermin in front of him that he had forgotten about his companions.

Watching Lilly's small boot slice mere inches from his nose, Magnius knew it would have taken his head off if he'd been a fraction slower.

A flurry of movement as Lloyd lunged, coming in hard with his left-hand sword. Magnius caught it on his axe's blade, felt it scrape down the length of steel as Lloyd kept coming, intent and lethal.

Going on training and instinct, Magnius thrust out a knife from inside his belt — and Kratos' sword was there, almost out of nowhere, coming up under Magnius' guard in a drive toward his heart. With a twist of his knife wrist, Magnius deflected it the few crucial centimeters that saved his life.

He felt a jarring impact in his side. There was no pain yet, but he knew he'd been hit. He disengaged his weapons from Kratos' and scrambled back.

Drawing a deep breath that made his injured side howl, Magnius attacked, driving hard in a flurry of strikes that kept Lloyd too busy parrying to make any counters of his own.

He kept going until he was almost chest to chest with the younger fighter, until Lloyd's arms were straining to hold off his simultaneous attacks with the two blades.

His wound throbbing, Magnius rammed a knee into Lloyd's hard muscled belly.

Lloyd recoiled, hissing in pain, and Magnius turned his attention to the younger man's companions most of whom were now preparing to attack the axman.

Magnius bellowed a battle cry, and Lloyd looked up in time to see his lunge. Sighting down the length of his sword, Magnius saw brown eyes widen slightly as he charged towards his friends.

He waited for Crystal to retreat in the blurring instant of his rush. He had singled her out due to the rage in her eyes—he wanted to crush her before she could do anything stupid.

Then he came within reach of her neck, and she stared up the length of the axe, her eyes reflecting off the blade.

She closed her eyes at the last second, knowing she couldn't avoid the blow.

But the strike never came.

Looking up, Crystal saw Colette standing before her, chakrams blocking Magnius' attack.

Before Magnius could move again, Lloyd, Crystal and Kratos rushed forward and thrust their swords into his chest.

He hit the ground hard when they removed their swords, coughing and sputtering.

"How... could I lose?"

"It's because you are a fool, Magnius. Cruxis has accepted Colette as the Chosen." Kratos told him.

"So… you're… Then… I was deceived…"

Then Magnius collapsed, unmoving.

The battle was over.

Trembling slightly, Lloyd sheathed his sword and looked to Raine, who was standing by a computer console.

"Okay, I'm going to program this place to self-destruct. Ready?" Raine said.

"Whoa, are you serious?" Lloyd asked.

"Raine, if you do that-" Genis began, but Raine interrupted.

"At the very least, we'll deal a major blow to the Desian stranglehold over this region. If we're going to strike them, it should be thorough and decisive."

"Raine…"

"Remember, Genis. We're not like them. We're different."

Something about that comment seemed to bother Lilly, and she flinched when she heard it. Avoiding everyone's worried looks she turned away, unable to face their questioning eyes.

Raine pressed a few buttons on the console, and an alarm sounded overhead.

"I've set the self-destruct timer for ten minutes. Let's hurry and evacuate."

"Is ten minutes really enough time? We're on the top floor!" Crystal asked.

"We'll just have to hurry."

Fortunately it didn't take long to reach the exit, and once they were finally outside, they found Neil and the prisoners waiting.

"We have to get away from the ranch!" Raine told him as she and the others hurried past.

"What?"

"It's going to explode!" Colette filled in.

"Oh!"

As they ran Crystal kept weaving through the crowd, looking for her family. There were a lot of people to look through, but at one point she called out.

"Mom!"

The entire group looked up, including Lloyd and the others. Crystal ran to an older woman, with graying hair and a dark brown dress.

"Crystal." The woman stated somewhat coldly.

"Mom, are you okay? I've been trying to get you out of that ranch for so long!"

"I'm sure you have."

"Mom, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy to be out."

"I am happy to be out. I'll be happier when I get home and back to my life. A life which doesn't involve you."

"Wh…what? Mom, what are you talking about?"

"I don't want you in my life anymore, Crystal. I've lived without you for two years, and I don't need you now."

Crystal couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had been desperate to get her family out of that ranch for so long, so eager to see them again, and now her father was dead and her mother wanted nothing to do with her?

"Wha-?"

"Crystal, just go. I don't want to see you anymore."

"But-"

"Crystal, come with me." A young woman said, putting an arm around Crystal's shoulder.

"Jocelyn! You're alive!" Crystal said, hugging her sister.

"It's good to see ya, little sis." Jocelyn said, and Crystal nearly cried. It felt good to get a warm greeting from someone, after the way her mother reacted. Moving away from their mother, the girls slowed to walk behind most of the group so they could talk.

Before they could say anything more, however, they heard a low rumble as the ground started to shake.

Crystal looked back toward the ranch in time to see the first of several large explosions. The sky above the ranch lit up in brilliant colors of red, orange and yellow. Black smoke filled the air.

Children screamed.

"We're still too close! Run!" Gene called out.

The group ran, but they were still near enough that they felt the effects of the blast. Those closest to the blast were thrown to the ground, while the rest were simply knocked off balance.

The closest trees caught on fire from flying debris, some of the thinnest branches littering the travelers' path. A great wave of heat smothered them like a heavy blanket, making it hard to breathe.

Several of the prisoners felt faint and some even lost consciousness, only to be dragged by those still moving.

Lilly briefly looked back at the scene behind her, finding the skyline flooded with colors like a beautiful sunset.

Looking ahead she saw that the group was slowly making its way forward, and she saw a group of wagons in the distance. In front of the wagons was a soldier.

"It's the Palmacosta military!" Colette said after a moment.

"Oh, now they show up!" Lloyd sighed.

"But if this was a trap orchestrated by Dorr, then why are they here?" Crystal asked.

She soon got her answer, as the soldier stopped before them.

"Chosen One! We have come to assist you in transporting the prisoners. These wagons are empty, and will hold a large number of people. All of you may ride in them as well."

"Thank you very much, soldier."

So they loaded the prisoners into the wagons and once they were all in there was one wagon left over for use by the Chosen's group. The lead soldier rode with them, up front with the driver.

"How did you know to come for us?" Genis asked him when they started up again.

"One of our soldiers discovered a Desian soldier in the government building with Dorr last night. He informed his superior, who confronted Dorr and learned the truth. Once we all knew about it, we decided to come and assist you in any way we could." He explained.

"Well, thank you very much." Colette said.

Lloyd and Genis echoed similar sentiments, as did Raine, while Lilly seemed to be lost in thought and Kratos merely nodded.

"What about Dorr? Where is he now?" Crystal asked.

"He's still in office, unfortunately. We were waiting for Assistant Gov-Gen Neil to return to take command."

"That's likely the best decision. If you had removed Dorr from power without someone to step in you would have caused a panic." Raine said.

"…I think it is time we had a talk with a mastermind behind all this." Kratos put in.

"I agree. We need to talk to him." Crystal added.

"You're going to see Dorr? Please, take me with you!" Neil begged.

"It may turn into a fight. Are you sure?" Lloyd asked.

"I want to know the Governor-General's true motives. Please!"

Lloyd hesitated at first. He knew it could be dangerous for Neil to go with them, but at the same time he knew that if the situations were reversed, he wouldn't take no for an answer. So he decided to agree to Neil's request.

"All right."

The group fell silent for a few moments until Genis sighed.

"Man, what a day…"

"Tired?" Crystal asked, and the mage nodded.

"It has been a more difficult day than most." Kratos agreed.

But man, did you see the way I handled Magnius? He didn't have a chance…" Lloyd said, feeling a moment of pride. That pride was quickly replaced with something else, though – guilt.

"Lloyd?"

"Yeah! And you guys did great! With that joint attack we did at the end…" He continued, forcing himself to remain upbeat.

"Lloyd…" Crystal said softly, and he looked down. When he raised his head again, everyone could see tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

"You feel guilty for taking Magnius' life." Kratos said.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I know that he deserved it and he had to be stopped and all, but…"

"But he was still a human being." Raine put in, and the boy nodded.

"Yeah. I dunno… maybe I'm just weak…"

"No, Lloyd. You're not weak." Crystal answered, and all eyes turned to her.

"I'm not…?"

"No. This would be hard on anyone. It is hard on all of us. I would worry if you didn't feel something after taking another person's life, even if it was Magnius."

"That is correct." Kratos agreed simply.

"But you guys don't seem as upset."

"Oh, you are far two young to have this hanging over you, Lloyd." Crystal sighed.

"What? Crystal, you're the same age as I am."

"But I've been through all this before. As I'm sure Kratos has," At the mercenary's nod she continued,

"Just because we do it doesn't mean we enjoy it or accept it, or even wish for it. But we know that it is necessary at times. Our personal feelings are beside the point. We do what we must to survive."

"So it's not a bad thing to feel guilty?"

"No, Lloyd. I'd say it's a very good thing."

"So long as you are strong enough to cope with that feeling and willing to bear the responsibility of his life, then no it is not a bad thing." Kratos put in.

Lloyd sat in silence for a moment, thinking over what was said before speaking again.

"You're right. Thanks, both of you."

The group fell into silence until they reached Palmacosta.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! As usual, thanks for all the reviews and alerts!You guys rock!  
**

**Chapter Six**

"Hey, guys? Um… if it's all right with you, I'm going to wait out here." Lilly said, speaking for the first time since they left the ranch.

Upon arriving in Palmacosta, Lloyd and the others followed Neil to see Door while the soldiers saw to the prisoners. Now outside the massive front doors of the government building, Lilly hesitated.

"You okay?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna go take a walk, maybe see Cacao. I'll catch up with you guys later."

"All right."

So Lilly walked off toward the shopping district while the others headed inside. As she walked she found herself near the docks, and as she stared out at the water she heard someone calling her name. Turning toward the sound, she saw Gene running down the pier.

"Hey, I know Crystal is busy, so could you give something to her when you see her again?" He asked as he approached.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Her father gave it to me just before you all came in. I didn't know what it was at first, but now that I do I think it would be best if she had it." Gene continued as he pressed something into Lilly's hand. Then without a word he turned and hurried away.

Looking down, Lilly found an Exsphere lying on her palm. Closing her fingers around it gently, she turned to face the water again, her mind plagued with new and disturbing thoughts. Seeing the small gem in her hand reminded her of the day that she received her own Exsphere, and those memories were better left in the past.

0~0~0~0~0~0

There was no one upstairs when they entered the building, but they could hear voices in the basement.

"When will my wife… when will Clara return to her original form?"

"That was Dorr." Crystal whispered.

As they reached the bottom of the staircase leading to the basement they found a stack of crates conveniently standing near the doorway, large enough for them to hide behind.

"Not yet. You still haven't paid us enough Gald. You've been paying us less and less." A Desian soldier answered.

"This is the best I can do! The tolls, the municipal taxes, the offerings to the Church of Martel… there's nowhere left to squeeze more money from!" Dorr said, desperation in his voice.

"Well, I suppose this will do…for today. I'm sure Lord Magnius will remove the demon seed depending on your next contribution." The soldier told him, and headed to a door in the back of the room.

"Father…" Dorr's daughter, Kilia, whimpered.

"Just a little while longer, Kilia. I promise."

Lloyd chose that moment to confront Dorr, and stepped out from behind the crates. He bumped one as he went, and Dorr looked up.

"Who's there?" Dorr questioned, and scowled when he saw Lloyd and the others.

"What are you doing here? Neil! Where's Neil?"

"Governor-General… I can't believe you've been working with the Desians!" Neil said as he stepped forward.

"So that's it… You betrayed me!"

"Governor-General! The Chosen destroyed the ranch for us. Please, stop this foolishness…"

"What…? What have you done? You… destroyed Clara's hopes of living!" Dorr shouted, hardly believing what he was hearing. They had defeated the Desians? What would that mean for Clara? The Desians were her only hope!

"I don't know who that is, but we saved everyone at the ranch." Lloyd informed him with a confused look on his face. Then he had another thought, and hung his head sadly.

"Well, except for Chocolat."

"…Saved? Th… that's funny! All right, then! Just try saving Clara!" Dorr said, walking to the corner of the room where a tall cage stood and pulled back a sheet.

Inside the cage was a strange creature that looked like Marble.

"What the…?"

"What is that monster?" Genis asked.

"She's crying… she's crying out in pain. You mustn't call her a monster!" Colette insisted.

"You don't mean…" Lloyd began, hardly able to form the words.

"That's right. This is Clara!"

"So that's why you told everyone she passed away." Crystal realized.

"My father, the previous Governor-General, was a fool." Dorr spat.

"Because of his defiant stance against the Desians, they killed him, then planted the demon seed in my wife as a warning. If I cooperate with them, they will give me the medicine to save her."

"But…that means you're betraying the people in this city!" Genis pointed out.

"Who cares! It was the only way to save Clara! But it's all been for nothing… I've lost the only chance I had to save her. All because of you!" Dorr shouted, slamming his hand against the wall angrily.

"Stop talking like you're the only victim! I'm sorry about your wife. But think of all those people who believed in you, only to be sent off to the ranch! Any of them may have wound up just like your wife!"

"Silence boy! Stop acting like your justice is absolute!" Dorr answered.

"Where do you get off? Don't even start using the word 'justice'! I hate that word! If you wanted to save your wife, you should have resigned your position as Governor-General and searched for a cure, or help, or whatever! You're a worthless jerk who couldn't give up his social status even for his own wife!" Lloyd countered.

"Lloyd stop! Not everyone's strong enough to stand up against the Desians. Please, stop this…!" Colette cried.

"Colette…"

"What if we go and find the medicine you mentioned? Then you could stop aiding the Desians…" Crystal put in.

"You… forgive me for what I've done?" Dorr asked, his voice laced with doubt.

"It's really not my place to forgive you. That's up to the people of this city."

"But… you don't judge me? You aren't angry?"

"I am angry, but not at you. I'm angry at the Desians for putting you in this situation. I'm angry that they think they can do whatever they please, regardless of who gets hurt." She clarified, then paused and shook her head. With a sigh she continued.

"No, I'm not angry at you. How could I be, when I've done the same thing? When my parents were taken to the ranch, I did anything I could to get them out, including working with the Desians. So in the end, you and I are a lot alike."

"I see…" Dorr answered, thinking over Crystal's words. He stood in silence for a moment, debating within himself, then nodded sharply.

"I know now that I was wrong. I apologize for putting you all in harm's way. If you could help my wife, I would be exceedingly grateful. I'll resign as the Governor-General as well. I no longer have the right to lead these people. You've shown me that I was wrong in aiding the Desians, and for that I thank you."

"I'm glad we could help you to see that aiding the Desians won't help anything. If anyone knows about that, it's me. Now about that medicine…"

"Man, I wish Lilly was here. She could heal her just like she did Marble." Genis asked, but Crystal shook her head.

"I don't think that's likely. This isn't the same thing. I don't know the details of this 'demon seed', but I doubt it's something even she could cure."

"Well, we have to do something! Professor, what about your healing arts?" Colette asked, but Raine shook her head.

"I don't think they'll be any help either. If something was actually placed inside Clara, then my healing arts won't be as effective."

"We'll have to study our medical texts. There must be something we can do."

"…There's no use." Killia said then, reminding everyone that she was still there.

"What do you mean?" Colette questioned, and the girl laughed.

"There's no way to remove a demon seed once it has sprouted." She said, sounding much older than her young appearance.

She then moved behind Dorr and shoved her fist into his back. As he hit the ground the meager light in the room reflected off a blade in the girl's hand.

"…Kilia…what are you—" Dorr gasped out.

"What are you doing?" Lloyd questioned.

"How could you do that to your own father?" Genis demanded.

"That's a laugh!" Kilia scoffed, stepping away from the group. A dark black and red light surrounded her, and she transformed into a strange being with purple skin, claws and hard yellow coils where her pigtails used to be.

"I am a servant of Pronyma," she explained, her voice grating like nails on a chalkboard, "leader of the Five Grand Cardinals who rule over the Desians. I was merely assigned to observe the new human cultivation technique, developed by Magnius." Then she paused and looked down at Dorr in disgust.

"There's no way that a superior half-elf such as I could have a fool of a father like this!"

"A fool of a father…?" Colette echoed, and 'Kilia' laughed.

"Just look at him! He didn't even notice that his own daughter was dead…because he was too busy chasing after medicine that doesn't exist…in order to save his monster wife!"

"You…!" Lloyd growled, withdrawing his swords from their scabbards.

"Neil," Crystal called, "Help me get Dorr out of here!"

So the two half-dragged, half-carried the bleeding man out of the room and back to the staircase as the others prepared to fight Kilia.

The sounds of the battle behind her echoed in Crystal's ears. Sword against flesh, shouts of anger, pain and even fear. It was painful to her, and felt all too familiar. It wasn't something she wanted to think about, but the memories refused to stay buried.

She saw Lloyd and Kratos running at Kilia, slashing away at her demon form while Genis and Raine stayed in the back to cast spells. Colette flitted back and forth between fighting up front and staying in the back with the Sage siblings.

After a long battle, Kilia finally collapsed.

"No… this cannot be…!" She moaned, gasping for breath.

"Fine… then, I'll set this monster free and let it kill you!" She then opened the cage Clara was held in.

"No… I can't fight her. Not another one…" Lloyd said, thinking of Marble.

Fortunately, Clara decided not to fight, and fled through the secondary passage that the Desian soldier had left through earlier.

"At least that's over." Raine sighed.

"Professor!" Crystal called, and everyone gathered around her.

"Please, you must help him!" She cried, and Raine kneeled to attempt to heal Dorr.

"It's… not working… Raine gasped after a moment.

"Someone go get Lilly! She could heal him! Hurry!"

"There's no time. He will be dead before she reaches him." Kratos stated.

"Is… Kilia safe?" Dorr managed to ask.

"Kilia… is…" Colette faltered.

"Don't worry. It seems your real daughter is fine."

"Lloyd…" Genis warned, his voice low.

"Real… daughter…?"

"That was an imposter. She was only pretending to be your daughter." Crystal explained.

"I see. Lloyd… Crystal. If you can, please… save Chocolat. That poor girl… doesn't deserve this. Tell her… I'm…" But he trailed off before he could finish, his eyes falling closed and his head lolling to the side.

"No…" Crystal whimpered, lowering her head as her eyes filled with tears.

"Governor-General!" Neil cried, reminding everyone that he was still there.

After a moment Crystal looked up, quickly brushing a hand over her eyes and standing. Without a word she left the room, heading back upstairs. The front door could be heard opening and closing, and the others knew she was gone.

"…I'm sorry for everything that's happened. Thank you for all your help." Neil offered as the group trudged up the stairs to the office.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I think the first step is to get together with those who hold power in the city and reorganize the government."

"Good luck. As for us, we're gonna find Chocolat, not matter what." Lloyd said.

"That's right. Because we promised." Genis put in.

"Indeed." Kratos agreed.

"I guess it's time to go then?" Colette asked, But Raine shook her head.

"I believe it would be best if we remained in the city for tonight, actually. We can head out first thing in the morning. Is that alright with everyone?" She asked as they left the building.

Everyone agreed and Raine nodded, dismissing the topic with that simple gesture.

"Alright, I'm going to go speak to Lilly. Kratos, could you find Crystal?"

"Of course."

"I wonder what's wrong with Lilly. She seemed really bothered by something, and that's not like her." Lloyd commented.

"I think she was upset by our conversation about blowing up the ranch earlier. When I told Genis that we weren't like the Desians, it seemed to trigger this response in Lilly. I imagine it has to do with her being only a quarter-elf. She isn't like anyone else, and I'm sure that it's hard on her."

"Oh… yeah, I can see how that would upset her." Lloyd agreed.

By this time the group had reached the inn. Everyone went inside except for Kratos and Raine, who went to search for their respective targets. It didn't go as planned, however. Raine found Crystal in a back alley near the shopping district, and Kratos found Lilly sitting on the dock looking out at the water.

"Lilly…" Kratos said softly, and the blonde looked up.

"Oh, um… hi." She faltered, looking much younger that her nearly twenty-one years.

"How did it go?"

Kratos hesitated for a moment, knowing that the girl-_no, not girl, woman._ He had to keep reminding himself-wouldn't like what she was about to hear.

"The Governor-General is… dead." He finally offered, his enhanced hearing picking up on her barely audible gasp easily.

"What? What happened?"

So Kratos told her everything, sparing no detail. He knew it would hurt her to hear it, but he also knew it would be more painful if he didn't tell her and she learned the truth from someone else.

"I can't believe that Kilia was an imposter. That's horrible… we have to help Clara! We have to find a way to heal her!"

"We will." Kratos assured her.

He hated seeing the sadness, the desperation in her eyes. He knew she was close to tears, and he wished there were something he could say to make her feel better.

"I know. No one in our group would condone just leaving her in that state. I just hope we can find a way to help her." She sighed.

The two stood in silence for a few moments, and then Kratos spoke again.

"You are troubled by the events at the ranch."

Lilly's head snapped up.

"What? No, I-"

"It is alright. You do not need to hide. The others are worried about you."

_"The others…" _Lilly's mind echoed, feeling a twinge of disappointment that he didn't include himself in that comment.

Kratos could see her eyes darken at his statement, but he wasn't certain what he might have said to upset her.

"I'm sorry, I just needed to be alone for awhile. I'll be alright."

"Do you wish me to leave?"

Lilly looked up at him again, blinking a few times with a look of surprise on her face.

"No. I think I'm okay. I've had time alone, and I'm ready to move on." She answered, though it seemed a little too quick to Kratos.

What he didn't realize was that she had spoken up quickly with the hope that he would decide to stay. She may not have truly wanted to be around the others, despite what she had said, but Kratos was a different matter.

"I'm sure the others are waiting for us. We should get back."

"They know we are out here." He stated simply.

What he didn't say was that he knew they wouldn't be too worried if she stayed a little longer, and that if she didn't mind the company he would stay as well.

"Hmm… perhaps you are right. It's very peaceful out here. Maybe I will stay for awhile. Would you care to join me?"

Wordlessly Kratos joined her on the edge of the pier, staring out at the water.

Lilly smiled as he sat down, but kept her face turned so he wouldn't see it.

"It's very quiet here. I wouldn't have expected that, given that this is a busy port most of the time." She commented.

"The town is settling down for the evening. No doubt it will be bustling again in the morning."

"Yes, that's true."

The two sat in silence for a moment, taking in the view as the sun sank on the horizon.

Lilly cast a sideways glance at Kratos, studying him without appearing obvious. The cool evening breeze moved through his hair, leaving it slightly disheveled before moving on to caress the bare skin of her neck.

Kratos glanced at her as well, but she had already looked away. The breeze was playing with her hair now, tossing it about and leaving it in her face. She brushed it back out of the way a moment later, hardly seeming to realize that she had done so.

Studying her hand as she brushed her hair back, Kratos remembered the wound his hand had suffered when the group had been fighting the guardians of the seal in the Triet Desert ruins. He looked down at his left hand, searching for the scar he knew wouldn't be there.

He would have ignored the wound, as it was not severe enough to bother healing, but Lilly wouldn't hear of it. Insistent, she had dressed his wound with such care that her gentle dabs felt more like caresses against his rough skin. Like a woman's touch.

Kratos shook his head. Lilly was but a child. Wasn't she?

He turned to watch her. Her blue eyes scanned the view before her, shining with the light of the sun reflecting in them. The hard look that he had first noticed back in Iselia was still there, but it had softened a bit, Kratos thought. She felt safe with Lloyd and the others, he knew, but now she appeared to be comfortable with him as well. And that was a pleasant thought.

No, she wasn't such a young girl as he first thought. He knew that she was twenty years old but she often seemed younger, especially when she was with Lloyd. But at that moment he began to realize that she was more mature than he thought.

Sitting beside her at the pier now, Kratos thought over their earlier conversation, remembering the way her expression had changed when he mentioned that the others were worried about her.

_"Why should that upset her? She doesn't like to have others fuss over her, but it seemed like more than that. But I haven't the slightest idea what it could be…"_

What were his exact words? 'The others are worried about you'. 'The others…' That was it. He had said that the others were the ones that were worried, but not that he was. Could that be what had upset her so? If it were, he knew he had to make it right.

"Lilly…" Kratos began and she looked up, the fading sun glistening on her hair and in her eyes.

"What is it, Kratos?"

"I did not mean to imply that I was not concerned about you earlier." He stated, hoping that this was the right way to bring up the subject.

"Huh? Oh. No, I know. I know you didn't mean it that way." Lilly answered, smiling brightly. Kratos could tell the smile was forced though.

He held her gaze for a long moment before she looked away, and stared out at the water again.

"I'm sorry, Lilly." He tried again, but she didn't look up.

"Lilly…?"

Then she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Kratos, I just… I don't want you to apologize because you think it would make me feel better. Don't apologize simply because you think it's what I want to hear." She explained, still refusing to meet his gaze a second time.

After a moment she stood, and without looking at him spoke briefly.

"I'm going to go back to the inn and rest. Goodbye, Kratos."

Kratos watched her until she was out of sight, then sighed and ran a hand over his eyes. He hadn't meant to hurt her the first time, and trying to make up for it only seemed to make it worse. Now what could he do?

**Hope you enjoyed it! I felt that it was a bit strange to say "**And that was a pleasant thought." **In relation to Kratos, and it seemed a bit out of character, but I really didn't know what would sound better. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! As usual, thanks for all the reviews and alerts!You guys rock!  
**

**Chapter Seven**

Raine found Crystal in a dark alley behind the government building. She had been expecting—hoping, really—to find Lilly. She knew how to talk to Lilly, but this girl? She had no idea how to go about this.

That was why she had wanted Kratos to speak with Crystal. At least he seemed to know how to respond to her. She even considered finding Kratos and directing him to the girl's location. But she couldn't do that. For the sake of the others, she had to try.

"Crystal…"

The girl's head snapped up when she heard her name called.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" That was the only thing Raine could think of, but once the words were out of her mouth she wished she could snatch them back. Obviously Crystal was not alright. Raine felt like slapping herself.

"I'm… okay, I think. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Really?" Raine questioned skeptically.

"Well… it just… doesn't feel real yet, you know? My father is gone and I know that, but it doesn't feel like it really happened."

Raine didn't answer, unsure of what to say next. She knew that typically, people dealt with grief in one of two ways; either they locked themselves away from everyone and refused any human contact, or they lashed out—sometimes violently.

And Crystal didn't seem like the type to lock herself away.

Deciding to change the subject, Raine spoke again.

"You handled the confrontation with Door very well."

"How could I do anything else? It was like looking at myself in a mirror. A distorted mirror, but still. I did the same thing he did, and for the same reason—to save my family. I would have been a hypocrite if I had condemned him for his actions."

"Perhaps. But you convinced him that he was on the wrong path, something that the rest of us would not have been able to do. You did a great job in that situation."

"It scared me a little, honestly. I mean, that could have been me. I couldn't just ignore it. I had to do something."

Then Crystal turned away. She was silent for several moments, until finally she looked back.

"I'm going to go take a walk. I appreciate you coming to check on me, but I'm fine. Please excuse me."

Raine watched her go in silence, then returned to the inn for the night.

0~0~0~0~0~0

The next morning Lilly rose before sunrise, dressing and leaving her room quickly.

She went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, but it sat before her at the dining room table an hour later, forgotten and unpalatable in its now cold state.

As she sat there she thought about her conversation with Kratos the night before. She knew it wasn't fair of her to act that way to him, but she had been hurt. She also knew that he hadn't intended to sound as though he didn't care about her but still, it stung.

She knew she had to talk to him about it, but at the same time she was afraid to. What would she say? And how would he respond? What if he was angry? But whatever happened, she knew she had to try.

Leaving the inn, she held up a hand to shield her eyes from the bright morning sun, scanning the scene before her for any sign of the mercenary. When she didn't find him in the immediate area she walked through the streets, eventually arriving back at the docks again. And sitting at the pier much like he had the night before with her, was Kratos.

Taking a deep breath, she moved along the pier until she was mere feet away from Kratos. He didn't look up as she approached, but she was sure he knew she was there. Perhaps he was waiting for her to speak?

"Kratos…" She began hesitantly.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" He inquired politely.

"No, actually I didn't." This caused him to look up.

"No? Is something wrong?"

Lilly paused for a moment, simply staring into his eyes before sitting down beside him.

"I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. There was no call for it. I shouldn't have treated you like that. You did nothing to deserve it."

"I see. I accept your apology if it means that much to you, but I was not offended by your comments. Perplexed, perhaps, but not offended." Kratos answered.

"Perplexed? Why?"

"I hadn't realized what I had said to upset you at first, and once I did I wanted to make it right. But it seemed I only made the situation worse."

"Oh. I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have reacted that way. It just… hurt a little, I guess. I shouldn't have let it bother me so much." Lilly said.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, neither sure what to say to the other. The city slowly came to life behind them, even as the sun rose before them. The sunlight made Lilly's eyes shine and her hair glisten, much like it had the evening before, and Kratos couldn't help but think that it was a rather attractive image.

Hearing his name being called, he turned to find Raine approaching them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but could you come to the inn for a moment, please?" She requested, and after he assured her that he would be in momentarily she retreated from the docks once again.

Kratos took a moment to sit quietly with Lilly for what was likely the last time that day, then stood.

"Do you wish to stay here?" He inquired, but she shook her head.

"No. if you don't mind, I'll accompany you back to the inn."

So he reached out a hand to help her up, and she took it and was gently lifted to her feet. He pulled her close for a moment, simply staring into her eyes silently, squeezing her hand tightly.

"Thank you." He whispered, then turned to begin his walk back to the inn.

Falling into step beside him, Lilly smiled.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"We may have to stay in town for today." Raine said when she saw Kratos and Lilly.

"What's going on?"

"Lloyd is ill."

Kratos raised an eyebrow at the Professor's claim, knowing that Lloyd tended to over exaggerate everything.

"He's thrown up three times already this morning." Raine stated simply, as if that cleared up any doubt.

"Very well. We may remain in town until he has recovered."

"Is he alright?" Lilly asked, and Raine nodded.

"Yes, I believe it is a mild stomach virus. He will be fine soon enough."

Raine answered, and went to check on Lloyd.

"Well, I think I'm going to get in some early morning training. Care to join me?" Lilly asked, and Kratos nodded.

So they left the inn and headed to the town gate, finding a clear area to spar in. Lilly fought with twin daggers, Kratos with his typical long sword. The two stared at each other for a long moment, mentally preparing themselves for the battle ahead. While they wouldn't fight as though they were enemies, both knew that they wouldn't hold back in this match.

Lilly charged at Kratos and slashed, but missed as he leapt over her. As soon as he landed, Kratos struck to the left, but Lilly blocked. Kratos concentrated his powers heavily on the right-hand dagger, and knocked it out of Lilly's hand. It flew across the clearing and hit the gate with a loud clang.

Both fighters leapt back.

Kratos moved around the clearing, circling Lilly and looking for an opening. He then ran toward Lilly as quickly as he could and attacked, landing a blow on her right shoulder.

Lilly jumped back and picked up her second weapon, and prepared to charge again. Lilly followed suit, and it looked like both warriors were about to clash, until Kratos' strike missed. Lilly stood unscathed, and only felt the wind of the blade as it passed by. The two turned around and eyed each other down. Then Lilly leapt into the air and used an Air Slash.

At the right time, Kratos slammed his blade down on the ground and the wave split in half, both sides going around him in both directions. Lilly's face was painted in shock as she saw her attack chopped in half. Kratos was ready to deliver his finishing move, and Lilly charged him. Kratos followed suit, and both dark colored streaks approached each other at high speeds until the slash of a both swords echoed throughout the clearing.

The bodies of the two fighters stood perfectly still. Both held their blades out. Kratos flinched first, showing that the battle had taken its toll, but it was Lilly who fell to her knees. The battle was over.

Breathing heavily, Lilly looked up at Kratos and grinned.

"That was fun. We should do it more often."

Kratos didn't answer, but held out a hand to help her up. As they headed back to the inn they saw Colette and Genis heading toward the square.

"Hey, guys. Where've you been?" Genis asked.

"Out training. Where are you two headed?" Lilly answered.

"We were going to the school. There's a sign in the window that says they're hiring waiters and waitresses, so we thought we'd see if we could get some work for the day."

"You really think they're going to hire you for just one day? It doesn't usually work that way. Good luck though. See ya later." Then the pairs parted ways and when Kratos and Lilly reached the inn, Kratos went to his room while Lilly went to speak with Raine.

Inside his room, Kratos was standing by the window when he remembered the slip of paper given to him by Marcus in the ranch. He had put it in his pocket at the time, but now he pulled it out and read the words written on it.

"Isaac Aurion. Luin." Kratos didn't know of anyone named Isaac Aurion that he was related to, but then he hadn't known about Crystal either, so he shouldn't have been surprised.

Deciding to speak with Crystal, he left his room and searched for her, eventually finding her in the dining room.

"Oh, Kratos, there you are. I was just looking for you." She said as he entered the room.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"I spoke with Lilly a few minutes ago, and she gave me this," she told him, indicating an Exsphere she held with her fingertips.

"I thought that maybe Genis could use it. He's the only member of our group who doesn't have an Exsphere besides Colette, so it may be good for him to equip it."

"Do you not wish to keep it? It came from your father, did it not?" Kratos asked, and Crystal hesitated.

"I… don't think I can keep it. I think it would be a constant reminder of what the Desians did to him, and I don't think I want that."

"Very well. It may be a good idea to give it to Genis then. Would you like me to do it?"

"No, I can do it. So, was there something you needed?"

"Yes, I wanted to ask you something. Do you know someone by the name of Isaac Aurion?"

Crystal thought about it for a long moment before nodding, but she seemed unsure.

"Yes, I think I heard my mother mention that name once or twice before she was taken to the ranch. Why? Did you find another relative?"

"Your father gave this to me in the ranch before asking that I take you out of the room." Kratos said, holding out the paper for her to see.

"He's in Luin? Then let's go find him! We'll be leaving Palmacosta in the morning assuming Lloyd is feeling better, so why not head to Luin?"

Kratos considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"Very well, I will speak to Raine."

"And I'll go speak to my mother. She must remember something about him. Hopefully she'll be willing to talk to me."

"Would you like me to accompany you?"

"No, I think that would be more of a hindrance than a help." Crystal said, smiling slightly. At Kratos' confused look, she explained, "If I'm not alone, she will interrogate whoever comes with me. That's how she is, no matter what the circumstance."

So she left the inn and headed to a house near the shopping district where her mother was staying. It was a small house, white with green shutters. It was dirty and rundown, showing signs of neglect.

Standing on the front walk, Crystal took a moment to collect her thoughts before proceeding. This was the house she had grown up in after moving to Sylvarant, but she hadn't spent much time in it over the last two years.

Once her family had been taken to the ranch, Crystal rarely came to the house, so was no one to look after it.

Knocking on the door, she could hear voices inside as people moved about. After a few moments the door opened, and revealed Jocelyn standing there with a grim expression.

"Hey, sis. If you're here to speak with Mother I would suggest coming back at another time. She isn't in a very good mood."

"I can't come back later. We'll be leaving in the morning. I need to speak with her now."

"So, you're not staying? I shouldn't be surprised." Her mother's voice echoed through the room as she entered.

"I have to go. I have to help these people. If they finish their journey they'll defeat the Desians, and we won't have to worry about them ever again." Crystal explained, looking to her mother. When she didn't answer, Crystal continued.

"And I want to find my family. That's why I'm here. I remember you saying something about someone named Isaac Aurion before you were taken to the ranch. I've learned that he's in Luin, and I want to find him. Can you tell me who he is?"

"Why should I tell you anything about him? That no-good lowlife didn't even want you. He put you up for adoption when your mother died." Her mother said, scoffing.

"Put me up for adoption…? He's my father? You knew where my father was and you never told me? Mother why would you keep that from me?"

Christina Kirkson looked around the room—at the walls, the door, anywhere but at her adopted daughter. She even looked to Jocelyn, who stared back with such intensity that she quickly looked away.

She didn't want to tell Crystal the truth—it would break her. She didn't know the truth, the harsh reality of the life her father lived. It wasn't something she could handle.

"Mother? Please, tell me what you know." Crystal insisted, but Christina still hesitated.

"Mother…" Jocelyn joined in.

"Look, your father wanted nothing to do with you. It's better if you just forget about him, okay? It's easier that way."

"Easier? Easier for who? For you? I can't 'just forget'. Not now that I know. Don't ask me to do that, Mother. Please."

Christina turned away from the girls and sighed, running a hand over her hair. They wouldn't stop until they were satisfied, she knew. They had always been that way.

"It's those damn Desians. They're responsible for this mess. They're the reason your father walked out on you. He couldn't handle the pressure." She spoke softly, more like thinking out loud than talking to the girls.

"They were after him. And who wouldn't be? He had obtained forbidden knowledge, about the nature of the worlds and the Desians. They had to silence him, they had to…" She trailed off then, but Crystal had what she needed to press her mother for more information.

"Forbidden knowledge about the Desians? What kind of knowledge?"

Before she could answer there was a knock at the door, and Jocelyn went to open it. Kratos stood there, but before he could speak Christina shrieked.

"You! You're one of them! Get out of my house! Stay away from my daughters!" She cried, looking around the room frantically.

"Marcus! Get in here! You have to help me!"

"Marcus? Mother, dad isn't here. He's gone, remember?" Jocelyn said softly, trying to calm her mother as Kratos stepped back outside.

"What are you talking about? Don't be absurd! Marcus! Get in here now! We need you!"

She continued to scream for several moments, until Crystal put an arm around her and led her out of the room.

"It's okay Mother, he's gone. He won't hurt us." Crystal soothed, knowing that it was better to allow her mother to continue to believe that Kratos was a threat than try to convince her otherwise.

"What's wrong with her?" She whispered to Jocelyn who shrugged, looking as confused and helpless as she did.

"I don't know. She was like this all morning too. She would seem perfectly lucid, and suddenly start shouting about Desians and calling for Erik."

"Do you think the stress of the ranch finally got to her?"

"It's possible. You should go see what Kratos wanted. I'll stay here and try to get mother to rest."

Crystal hesitated at first, but then nodded and left the house. Back outside, she found Kratos waiting nearby.

"I'm sorry about that. I don't know what's wrong with her. What was it you needed?" Crystal said quickly. She didn't really want to discuss her mother's outburst, and she knew that if Kratos had come to the house even after she asked him not to then he must have had a very good reason.

"Did you get any information from her?" Kratos asked, and Crystal told him what she knew.

"It's not much, but at least it's a start." She said when she finished.

"Yes, it should prove useful in finding Isaac, or at least someone who knows him. If he is living in Luin, like your father believed, someone there should know where to find him."

"Yeah. Hey, did you talk to Raine? What did she say?"

"She agreed that we could travel to Luin once we leave here." Kratos answered.

"It'll be a long journey. We should make sure we're prepared before we go."

"You're going to go find your real dad?" Jocelyn's voice sounded behind them.

"That's right. Dad gave us the information we need to find him. He's living in Luin."

"Really? Well I hope you find him. Good luck. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to come back here, okay?" Jocelyn said, and hugged her sister tightly. When she pulled away, she turned to Kratos.

"You take care of her, you got that?"

"Of course."

Then Kratos and Crystal headed back toward the inn. Once they were away from the house, Kratos spoke again.

"I have a contact who gave me some information about Isaac. Apparently he used to work for the Desians, but he tried to leave them roughly sixteen years ago." He began, his voice low so as to not be overheard by passersby.

"Sixteen years ago…? Then, he left when I was born… but I can't imagine that Yggdrasill would leave him alone. Why wouldn't he go after him?"

"He did try to for a time. From what I could gather, he pursued him for quite some time, but stopped after about two years." Kratos continued.

"Two years? Hmm… my mom said that I was adopted when I was two years old. So, Yggdrasill stopped chasing my dad after he gave me up? What was so important about me? And if he was looking for me, why did he stop?"

"I do not know why he was searching for you."

"But you were there during that time. Did Yggdrasill tell you anything?" Crystal pressed.

"No, he never saw fit to divulge that information to me."

By this time they had reached the inn. Crystal was about to speak again, but before she could the door opened and Colette and Genis walked out.

"Hey guys, back already? How'd it go?"

"It went really well! We worked the lunch shift, and made a lot of Gald, see?" Colette said, holding up a bag full of money.

"Wow… great job, guys! Hey Genis, you got a minute? I want to talk to you about something." Crystal said, and the boy nodded, following the older teen out of the inn.

"I want you to have this." Crystal began, holding out the Exsphere.

"You want me to have it? Are you sure? Shouldn't you keep it? It came from your dad, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. But I don't want the memories that come with it. I don't need it to remember my father, or what happened to him. So you should have it. You're the only one of us that doesn't have an Exsphere or Cruxis Crystal, so you should take this one."

She pressed it into his hand tightly, then nodded once and turned away. But not before Genis saw the tears gathering in her eyes. He didn't say anything, knowing that she wanted it that way, but stared down at the small gem in his hand, thinking of just what it meant for Crystal to give it to him.

**Okay, that's it for this one! Hope you enjoyed it! The next update might be a few days, because I don't even have it written yet. **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So sorry for the long delay! I kinda lost my inspiration for awhile. But the presence of ToS: DotNW under my tree got me going again-I'm already planning the sequel! **

**On a side note, I hope you all had a great holiday!  
**

** As always, thanks for all the reviews and alerts and faves. You guys make this worthwhile! Now on with the story!**

**Chapter Eight**

"So where do we go next?" Crystal asked.

The group was preparing to leave Palmacosta the following morning, Lloyd having gotten over his illness.

"Back to Hakonesia Peak." Raine answered.

"Back to? Were you there before?"

"Yes, we were heading there when we learned that Magnius was in Palmacosta. We had to retrieve a statue for a man who runs a shop there, in exchange for looking at a book in his possession. We didn't get a chance to return the statue to him before heading here."

By this time the group had reached the city gate.

"It feels a bit strange to be leaving this time, not knowing when I'll be back." Crystal said with a sigh. She paused for a moment to study the scene before her, the sleepy town slowly coming to life before her eyes.

She saw men heading toward the government building, men who held power in the city, that Neil had called together to discuss what they would do with Dorr gone. Before turning away, Crystal quietly wished them well.

She could see her family in her mind—her father preparing to head to the government building, her brother and sister preparing for another day of class at the academy. Crystal herself would be staying home to care for her mother.

"Crystal, are you alright?" Colette asked, and Crystal looked up with a nod.

"Yes, I'm fine. Let's go."

The group travelled for several hours before reaching a House of Salvation, where they took a brief break. After a short time they continued on, arriving at the Hakonesia Peak an hour and a half later.

Having never been there, Crystal was surprised at what she saw—it was a simple mountain crossing, with a guard post and a small shop. Inside the shop, they spoke to the shopkeeper, an older man named Koton.

"Alright, Koton, we brought the statue, per our agreement. Can we look at the book now?" Lloyd asked, and the man nodded.

"Yes, you may now look at the Book of Regeneration as long as you like." Koton answered, gesturing toward a book on a pedestal in the corner of the room. As the group approached it, Crystal looked at the cover.

It was a leather-bound book, with intricate detailing on the front. Some of the lettering was a bit worn, and the cover was frayed, but otherwise it was in good condition. When they opened the book, however, they saw that the inside was not the same.

The pages were torn and dirty, making it hard to read. Some passages were completely torn out, so the information held within would be half-intact, at best. Still, there was nothing anyone could do about that, so without hesitation Raine and Colette began scouring the pages.

"It's written in a very old style…" Raine said, with a sigh that was equal parts frustration and reverence. She turned the pages gently, afraid to do any further damage to them.

"There's quite a lot of text. Colette, please read aloud only the parts that concern the seals. The rest can be perused at a later time."

As Colette scanned the words before speaking, Crystal couldn't help but be reminded of being in a classroom, with Raine instructing Colette to read something to the class. She nearly laughed at the thought, but held back.

"Raging flames in an ancient city deep within clouds of sand overlook the city, lighting the darkness." Colette began.

"Raging flames… that sounds like the Seal of Fire." Lloyd commented.

"Yeah, and we've already done that, so we don't have to worry about going back." Lilly added, pulling a pencil and paper out of her bag and taking notes.

"Pure flowing water floating, overflowing in an isolated land, becomes a giant pillar and rains down from the sky. Is that the Thoda Geyser?" Colette said next, and Lloyd groaned.

"Don't tell me we have to go back to that geyser again!"

"This time I really will stay behind." Raine insisted, while Lilly paled at the thought of the geyser.

"What's wrong, guys? Did you go there before?" Crystal asked, confused at their reactions.

"That was where we found the statue." Genis said.

"Those washtubs were fun! If we have to go back, then we'll get to ride them again!" Colette put in.

"Washtubs? Okay, you have to tell me about the washtubs, but before that we should get back to the book. What else does it say, Colette?" Crystal said, and Colette studied the book once again.

"Sublime wind, ancient city, the world's… Enshrined in the center of a giant stone seal lurks evil, impersonating a holy force."

"The Seal of Wind must be… the Asgard Ruin. If we travel to Asgard, we should be able to find some clues." Raine put in.

"But what about 'impersonating a holy force'?" Genis questioned.

"I'm not sure. I guess we'll have to investigate when we get there."

"Shining…gazing up at the summit of the gods, giving praise to the pillar of the world…from the top of the tower of ancient gods." Colette read next, thinking over the words before speaking.

"I think that's probably the Tower of Mana. From there, you can see the mountains around the Tower of Salvation, so that's probably the summit of the gods. The rest of the book is too damaged though. I can't read it."

"Well, at least we know where most of the seals are now. Let's get out of here." Lloyd said as he turned to Koton again.

"Thanks, Gramps."

The others thanked him as well, then they left the shop. Approaching the guard post, Raine showed the soldiers the road pass they had and they were allowed through.

"So, which seal are we going to first?" Lilly asked as they walked.

"The nearest town is Asgard—that will be our first stop. We should reach it in a little over an hour." Raine supplied.

"What about Luin?" Crystal put in.

"What?"

"You said that we could head to Luin when we left Palmacosta. And besides, isn't the Tower of Mana near there anyway? We can release the seal while we're there."

"That's right! The Tower of Mana is always locked, and the priests in Luin hold the key." Lilly answered. Raine hesitated for a moment, regretting that she had agreed to go to Luin in the first place.

"Alright, we'll go to Luin. Is that okay with you, Colette?"

"Of course! Crystal's family is there, right? We should go find them!"

Everyone else agreed, so it was decided that they would continue on to Luin without stopping at Asgard first. The small town was not out of there way, but now Colette and Lloyd were pressing to pass it by.

So they continued on, but by that time it was already late afternoon, so they had to set up camp after only a couple hours of travel. The next morning they broke camp early and moved on.

They reached Luin late that afternoon, and Raine suggested that they head to the in to rest. Once they had checked into rooms for the night, Crystal headed out to walk around the town and perhaps ask its residents if they knew Isaac.

Lilly went with her, as did Kratos, but Raine refused to let Colette, Lloyd and Genis go without resting.

Crystal headed toward the city square while Kratos went to the residential district and Lilly went to the shopping district.

As she walked around Lilly marveled at the sight of the town. There was a settled peace to the town, one that Lilly had never seen anywhere else in her travels. It was a lovely town, one that people started families in.

"'Ello there, Miss. Don't believes I've seen you here 'efore." Turning at the source if the voice, Lilly saw an older man standing a few feet behind her. He wore a dirty, torn coat, and shoes with holes in the toes.

"No, I'm new to the area. It's a very nice town."

"Aye, that it is. Perhaps you'd like to come with me—I'll show you the best sights." The man said next. Lilly shook her head and took a step backward.

"N-no, I'm sorry, I have to go. Please excuse me."

"Aw, don't be like that Missy. I know where you might like to go. Have you seen the fountain? Very lovely, like yourself." And the man took a step closer.

"No, I haven't seen it, but I must go."

Walking away from the man, Lilly headed to the residential district, hoping to get away from the man. After a few minutes she was walking down a dark alley when she heard footsteps behind her. Without bothering to turn around she called out.

"I do not want to go to the fountain with you, or anywhere else for that matter. Please, I'm very busy. So if you don't mind I really need to be on my way, and you need to be on yours. So please leave me alone."

When no one responded and she heard no footsteps she turned to see who was behind her, and found that it was not who she thought.

"Oh, sorry Kratos. I thought you were someone else."

"I assumed as much. Was someone giving you trouble?"

"Not really, just some homeless guy with nothing better to do. So what's up? Have you found anything about Crystal's family?" Lilly said, but Kratos shook his head.

"No, not yet. It appears that no one knows Isaac."

"Or maybe they just don't want to talk to someone who comes in late in the evening and starts asking questions about the town's residents. Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow, and start over."

"Yes, perhaps so. Though I doubt we will convince Crystal of the wisdom of that plan."

Then the two started toward the square, where Crystal was last seen. When they arrived they saw her speaking with a small child. When she saw them approach she sent the child back to her mother who was nearby, and turned to them.

"Any luck? No, nevermind, I can see by your faces that you haven't found anything. I haven't gotten much either, and I'm starting to get really frustrated. Hardly anyone will speak with me. That child said that she knew someone named Ichabod Aurion though, so I guess that's our next lead."

"Did she tell you where to find this Ichabod?" Lilly asked.

"He said that he could be found in the café from time to time. I'm planning to go there in the morning. For now, I guess I'll go back to the inn."

Lilly and Kratos followed her, and they prepared to settle in for the night. The next morning Crystal left the inn early and headed for the café, arriving before they even opened.

It was a small shop, white with black shutters, sitting beside the weapons shop. Its owner, a man named Lucas, was younger than Crystal would have expected him to be. He was a tall man with short black hair and green eyes, and a teasing smile. After sitting on a bench outside the café for nearly an hour Lucas came and unlocked the door, and Crystal went inside and sat at the bar.

"Coffee will be ready in ten minutes if you'd like a cup, and I'll have the muffins in the oven shortly. I assume that's why you're here, right?" Lucas asked as he started the coffee and began gathering the ingredients for the muffins.

"Well, actually I wanted to ask you about one of your customers, but I may have a cup of coffee while I'm here. Do you know a man named Ichabod Aurion?"

"Old Ichabod? Sure, comes in everyday. Always orders the same thing—black coffee and a banana muffin. You look a lot like him, you know. You a relative of his?"

"I think so. It's kinda complicated. What can you tell me about him?"

Lucas didn't answer right away, thinking over what to say as he whipped up the batter for the muffins. After a few moments he grabbed a pan and poured the batter into it, then set it in the oven.

"He's a good man. Don't let anyone tell you different." He began, turning to check on the coffee. Seeing that it was nearly ready, he set a mug on the counter in front of Crystal, along with a bowl of sugar and a small pitcher of cream.

"Why would anyone tell me he wasn't a good man?"

"He… did some bad things when he was younger. But he's changed, I know he has! He isn't the same person anymore." Lucas insisted, then shook his head.

"Some of the townspeople don't like him. They talk behind his back. They think that he's the reason the Desians keep coming to Luin."

By this time the coffee was ready, and Lucas poured Crystal a cup.

"He used to work with them, you understand. But he left them years ago. Now he's trying to atone for his crimes, and that's all anyone could ask of him. But few people really know him like I do. No one wants to spend time with him long enough to get to know him." He continued.

"That's horrible! How could anyone treat another human like that? How can they just shun him? He's trying to make it right. What more do they want?" Crystal said, taking a small sip of the steaming coffee.

"They don't want him here at all. They would be happier if he just left. He won't though. He's too stubborn, I think, to let these lowlifes chase him out of town. I'm glad for it though. He's an interesting person, and he's got a lot of great stories to tell. I hope—"

Lucas stopped abruptly when the door to the café opened. Crystal turned to see who it was, and saw a man she almost mistook for Kratos.

"Ah, Ichabod, good to see you. I'd like to introduce you to my new friend, Crystal."

**Okay, I know its a little short this time. Sorries! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. Love to all my readers!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: For those of you who noticed, which I imagine would be everyone, I did in fact change the title of this story. Do you have any idea how many stories on are called "Broken Memories"?**

**For the record, the proper title of this is "The El-Adge Storm", but it didn't show up right. Also, I promise that the title will make sense in due time.  
**

**Now, enough of my rambling. On with the chapter!**

**Chapter Nine**

Unable to see clearly due to the light from the morning sun shining in the doorway, Crystal squinted her eyes at the man who stood before her. Upon second glance she realized that he really was similar to Kratos.

His hair was nearly the same spikiness that Kratos' was, he was the same height, and he even walked the same. His eyes were grey, however, and his hair color was different as well—it was black, like Crystal's.

As he closed the door and came to stand by the bar, Crystal noticed his clothes. He wore brown pants much like Lloyd's, and a deep blue tunic.

"Crystal…?" Ichabod said, staring at Crystal. She didn't respond for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, I'm Crystal Aurion. Lucas has told me many good things about you. I'm pleased to meet you."

"Crystal Aurion, hm? Tell me, where are you from? Who are your parents?"

"Ichabod, that's enough. Stop interrogating my guest. She's the one you've been looking for." Lucas said, coming to stand beside Crystal.

"We don't know that for certain. She could be an impostor. It wouldn't be the first time."

"You've had impostors around here?" Crystal cut in, and both men nodded.

"Yes, there have been those who come to Luin pretending… well, pretending to be you, actually. The lost daughter of the Aurion line." Lucas told her, as he prepared a cup of coffee for Ichabod.

"Lost?"

"Well, insomuch that we didn't know what had happened to you. You were separated from your family when you were very small, maybe one or two years old." Lucas explained.

"One." Ichabod put in.

"Right. Anyway, at that time your father, Isaac, put up posters asking for information and promising a reward for any clues. Several people came forward claiming to have information, but in the end it was all false."

"Just people looking for easy money." Crystal commented.

"That's right. After awhile Isaac took down the posters and gave up trying to locate you, but for a long time people kept coming to him, claiming that they had found his child."

"This was when we still living in Meltokio. When Father had finally had enough he moved to Sylvarant, to Palmacosta." Ichabod added.

"Father…? T-then you're-"

"Yes, I'm your brother. That is, I am Crystal Aurion's brother. Are you the Crystal Aurion that was lost to us fifteen years ago?"

"Yes, I am. I know I am. My mother—my adoptive mother—told me that she adopted me when I was two, and that I was born in Meltokio." Crystal answered, nodding firmly.

"Mother recently revealed that my father's name was Isaac, when I discovered another with whom I share the Aurion name. Do you know a man named Kratos?" She continued.

"K-Kratos? Kratos Aurion? You know him?"

"Yes, why?"

"Is he here now? With you here in Luin?" Ichabod pressed, and Crystal backed away a bit, suddenly nervous at his reaction.

"I want to see him. Can you take me to him?"

"O-okay. He should be in the inn now, I think."

Without another word Ichabod turned and left the café, Crystal following closely behind.

When he reached the inn he threw the door open, startling the innkeeper and one of the other guests. He stormed by them without even a glance, but Crystal quickly tossed out an apology as she chased after him.

He took the stairs two at a time, and when he reached the top he began knocking on doors. The first one he stopped at was Colette's.

When she opened the door she looked at Ichabod in confusion before seeing Crystal, but when she did she smiled brightly.

"Hi, Crystal! Did you need something?"

"Hey, Colette. We're looking for Kratos. Have you seen him?"

Colette tilted her head to the side for a moment, trying to remember the last time she had seen the mercenary.

"I haven't seen him since last night. But Lloyd did. I think he said he's in the inn somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Sorry!"

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye!"

Colette closed her door, and Ichabod moved on. The next door revealed Genis.

"Hey, Crystal. What's going on?"

"Hey, we're looking for Kratos. Have you seen him?"

Genis scratched the back of his head, thinking about Crystal's question. After a moment he shook his head.

"No, I haven't seen him since last night. Lloyd might have though. Or maybe Lilly. You should ask them."

"Okay, thanks."

When the door closed, Ichabod sighed.

"How many friends do you have here? We've seen two already, and they told you to find to others. Not to mention Kratos!" He complained.

"There's still another that you haven't seen or heard about yet. You better hope that you don't run into her." Crystal commented lightly as the two pressed on.

The next door was opened by Lloyd.

"Oh, hey Crystal. What's up?"

"We're looking for Kratos, and Colette said that you'd seen him. Do you know where he is?"

"Hmm… I saw him about an hour ago, out by the fountain. He's probably still there."

"Finally!" Ichabod muttered. Crystal rolled her eyes, then smiled at Lloyd.

"Great, thanks. By the way, what are you doing up so early?"

"Kratos got me up for training two hours ago…" Lloyd stated, clearly not happy about the fact.

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm sorry then. Go get a nap or something. "

"Yah, I as bout o." Lloyd said, stifling a yawn.

Ichabod was halfway down the stairs before the door even closed.

"Hey, wait up! You aren't going without me."

He swung the door open with as much force as last time, startling the innkeeper and yet another guest. Crystal didn't bother with an apology this time, too busy trying to catch up.

Once outside Ichabod wasted no time heading toward the fountain in the plaza. When he neared it he stopped, and when Crystal reached him she saw that Kratos was still there, as Lloyd had said.

Kratos hadn't noticed them yet, standing with his back to them and staring into the water of the fountain. Ichabod growled as he watched him, then suddenly shouted and ran forward.

Kratos heard the shout and turned, in time to see a knife being flung at his head. He dodged it easily and stood calmly, something that Crystal found amazing. Someone had just thrown a knife at him, obviously intending to injure or possibly kill him, and yet he remained calm.

"Do you have another weapon?" Kratos asked conversationally, and the question surprised Ichabod so much that he ended up answering honestly.

"No, I don't."

"I see. It is not wise to throw your only weapon. You are now defenseless, and if I should wish to kill you I would have little difficulty in doing so.''

"S-Shut up!" was the only reply Ichabod seemed to have.

Kratos then retrieved the knife and tossed it back to the younger man, who stood barely held it for a moment before attacking Kratos again. This time he did not throw the knife, choosing instead to swing it in wide circles.

"Ichabod! What are you doing? Stop that!" Crystal shouted, and when he didn't respond she came up behind him and pulled on his arm. Without a thought he turned and swung the knife at her, cutting into her neck and shoulder.

Crystal jumped back, startled, grasping her fingers to the wound as blood began to seep from it. Ichabod stood stunned for a moment, and Kratos took the opportunity to take the knife away and put it in his own belt before turning to Crystal.

He gently pulled her hand away, whispering the incantation for a healing spell. A soft green light spread around the wound, and Crystal could feel the skin mending.

"Thank you." She said to Kratos before looking to Ichabod.

"Sorry," he said gruffly, "but you shouldn't have interfered."

"Ichabod, how can you say that? Why were you attacking him in the first place?"

"Why wouldn't I? It's his fault my mother is dead! Him and those damn Desians!"

"What are you talking about? How could he be responsible for mother's death?"

"'Mother'?" Kratos echoed, studying Ichabod for any familiar traits.

"I told you to shut up!" Ichabod shouted, throwing a fist at Kratos.

"Hey, that's enough! Whatever your problem is with Kratos, it can be resolved in another way!"

"There is no other way! He must pay for what he's done! He killed my mother!"

"Kratos, do you know what he's talking about?" Crystal asked, still trying to restrain her brother.

"I am uncertain. What was your mother's name?"

"My mother was Nicole Aurion. She was taken to a human ranch to be a part of the Omega Project." Ichabod stated coldly, having momentarily stopped attacking Kratos.

Upon hearing of the Omega Project, Kratos visibly flinched, and his face paled. The Omega Project? He thought that it had been put aside. He thought that Yggdrasill had given up on it many, many years ago.

Apparently not.

"What's the Omega Project?" Crystal asked, looking between the two men. She was concerned about Kratos' reaction—she had never seen him like that before, and she certainly didn't like to see it now.

"The Omega Project is a program designed to perfect the Omega Arts, a fighting form used a long time ago." Kratos began, looking at Crystal.

"Omega Arts? What are those?"

"The Omega Art is a fighting style that enables one to use the mana in their body as a weapon. In essence, one could use their mana to create weapons for use, such as a bow and arrow or a sword."

"Using mana as a weapon… that doesn't sound like something that could kill a person. Unless maybe they used too much mana. Is that how my mother died?"

"Yes, it is. She was forced to use her mana far too much, and she wasn't given sufficient time to recover between uses. At some point it was simply too much."

"How can you be so cold? That's my mother you're talking about!" Ichabod said.

"I apologize. I did not mean to offend you. I was merely relating the facts in as simple a manner as possible."

"He didn't mean anything bad by it, Ichabod. Calm down." Crystal put in.

"Calm down? How can you defend this murderer? I can't understand you! I know one thing though, and that is that you are not my sister. You may be related to me by blood, but you will never be a part of my family."

"Wh-what? How can you say that?"

"No sister of mine would ever defend this traitor, this… this Cruxis lap dog!" Ichabod said, then turned and ran off, leaving Crystal staring after him in a daze.

"'Cruxis lap dog'? A decidedly Chosen-like voice sounded behind them.

Kratos and Crystal shared a glance that clearly said "Damn, how do we handle this?"

Before they could speak, Colette asked, "Mr. Kratos, are you working for Cruxis?"

**~0~0~**

**Sigh. I hate short chapters. With a passion, really. Not a purple passion, because that would seem to suggest that I dislike the color purple, and I don't. **

**Meh, anyway...**

**I tried to add detail where I could to lengthen the chapter, but there's so many eye rolls, frustrated sighs and sips from steaming cups of coffee you can add before they get old and the coffee gets cold. Of course, I only added the one with the coffee, but still. Hopefully the information in this chapter will make up for the shortness. **

**Hope you liked it!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**I am so sorry for the late update! Really, truly sorry! I have a tiny bit off an excuse, but it's a weak one. I just finished ToS; DoTNW the other day, and it was hard to get into the mindset of Lloyd from the first game. And since I have two scenes with him in this chapter, I had trouble getting it done. **

**Anyway, that's all from me for now. On with the story!  
**

**Chapter Ten**

"Colette! Y-you heard that?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah. Was I not supposed to? Oh, I'm sorry! I was coming to find Kratos to let him know that you guys were looking for him, but I guess you beat me to it." Colette answered, and for a moment no one spoke.

"Hmm… so that must be why you're an angel." She said quietly, almost as though speaking to herself.

"An angel?" Crystal asked, looking to Kratos.

"Of course. You didn't know?"

"Why do you say that he's an angel?"

"Because I can sense it. Back at the Triet Ruins, I began to sense a lot of new things. It took me a few days to make sense of it all. But now I understand it." She explained. She looked a bit worried, afraid that Kratos would be angry with her.

Seeing her fear, Crystal went to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Colette. We're not angry with you. Right, Kratos?" She said, sending a poignant look at Kratos.

"Of course not." He agreed, shooting Crystal a look that clearly said '_You thought I would be angry? It is not her fault._'

"But you mustn't tell anyone, Colette. Do you understand?" Crystal said next, and Colette nodded emphatically.

"I won't tell. I promise. I won't ever tell that you're an angel."

"An angel?" A voice echoed behind them.

The three turned to find a certain brunette swordsman looking very confused.

"Lloyd?"

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Colette whimpered, looking like she was about to cry. Crystal put a hand on her shoulder again, and she tried to smile.

Lloyd stood silently for a moment, blinking slowly, before looking to Crystal.

"Um, hey… I was coming to find Kratos. Since you were looking for him, I wanted to let him know." He said, then shifted his eyes to Kratos.

"Are you really an angel?"

Kratos sighed almost inaudibly then nodded once, a quick up and down motion that was so slight it would have been easy to miss.

"Yes, I am."

"That's so cool!"

Leave it to Lloyd to look past the implications of such a claim and simply think of it as his new toy. This time Crystal and Kratos both sighed.

"Can I see your wings? You have wings, right? Do you fly? Can we see you fly? What about magic? Does this mean you can use stronger magic than you have been?" He asked in a rush, and when he finally paused to catch his breath Crystal spoke up.

"Lloyd, he's not going to entertain you by doing parlor tricks! Especially not in the middle of town square."

"Oh, right. Wait, what's a parlor trick?"

And Crystal's hand swiftly found it's way to her forehead.

"Lloyd, you need a dictionary."

"Hey!"

"Come on, let's go to the inn. We can talk there, okay?"

Once there, Lloyd turned to Kratos.

"So, why didn't you tell us you were an angel? It would have probably been easier to get the job of guarding Colette if you had just told us you were sent by Cruxis."

"Perhaps so, but would you have believed me if I had?"

"You have wings, right? You could have shown us your wings and that would have been proof. Hey, now that we're inside, can I see your wings now?"

"Not inside the inn Lloyd." Crystal put in before Kratos could say anything.

"Not inside, not outside… where exactly is an acceptable place for me to see them?"

"Did you ever think that maybe he doesn't want to show you his wings?" Crystal said, still not letting Kratos talk.

"Oh… I hadn't thought about that. Sorry, Kratos." Lloyd said, lowering his head.

"It is alright, Lloyd." Kratos answered, then turned to walk away.

Unfortunately, he was stopped at the door.

"Wait, you're really an angel?"

Genis and Raine stood there, with Lilly not far behind.

"Now this is just getting ridiculous." Crystal muttered.

"Yes, I am. Now that everyone is aware of that, I will excuse myself." Kratos sighed, and turned to leave.

"Actually, we should probably be heading out soon. I spoke to the priest in charge of the Tower of Mana, and he has given me the key. So we can go there at our convenience." Raine put in.

"But what about finding Crystal's family? That's what we came here for in the first place!" Colette asked.

"It's okay, Colette. I think that some time away might be a good thing right now." Crystal told her.

"But you didn't even meet your father!"

"I know, but if he's anything like Ichabod, then this isn't a good time. So I'll come back later."

So with that it was decided that they would leave, and head to the Tower of Mana. It was about an hour's walk from the town, and most of that time was spent in silence.

As they walked Kratos could feel the gaze of the others on him, and he knew there were mixed reactions to the news that he was an angel.

Lloyd and Genis thought it was something new and exciting, like a new toy put in front of them. It was almost like Lloyd's reaction to the Sorcerer's ring, and Kratos couldn't help but wonder if the boys' enthusiasm would soon wear off.

Colette already knew that he was an angel, though not that he was of Cruxis. Of, for that matter, what Cruxis really was. Kratos knew that she expected to die at the journey's end so this was, and yet wasn't, a surprise to the young girl.

Crystal already knew that he was an angel, and that he worked for Cruxis, so her reaction was one of relief. She had known his secret for a long time, and was unable to say anything, so now that everyone knew it was like the release of a burden to her.

Raine's reaction was hard to read. Sometimes she looked indifferent, yet there was a definite gleam in her eyes at other times. When Colette had received her wings, the Professor had demanded a thorough examination of them. She had even nearly extracted a feather from the poor girl's back!

Kratos cringed at the mere thought of that memory. Though he could withstand great amounts of pain, the forceful removal of one's wings was something he didn't care to experience twice.

Lilly was the most troubling of all. At times Kratos caught her looking at him almost like his late wife did, though not to the same extent seeing as she didn't know the whole truth. It hurt to see the look in her eyes, almost as if he had betrayed her in some way.

Kratos tried to tell himself that her opinion didn't matter, that he shouldn't care what she thought or felt, and at times he almost believed it. But it was a hollow victory. During the time they spent together he had come to care about her, not necessarily in a romantic sense but certainly as a friend.

He knew that it didn't matter, however, because at the end of their journey everyone would most likely hate him, except for Crystal.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"The Tower of Mana was built to view the Tower of Salvation, right?" Genis asked as the group walked.

"That's right. It's just like that book said, 'gazing up at the summit of the gods'. But that was before it became infested with monsters." Crystal answered, looking at her notes and wrinkling her nose at the 'monster infestation' comment.

"But the area around it is really pretty! At least, that's what I've heard…" Colette offered, smiling brightly.

"It sounds awesome! And come on, we can handle a few measly monsters."

"A few, sure. But I'm talking about more than 'a few'. A lot more. Like I said, it's been infested. There's no telling how many there are."

""Well, however many, we can handle it! We didn't come this far only to be turned back by a bunch of lousy monsters."

"Yeah, you're right." Crystal agreed, and the group fell silent again.

They arrived at the Tower grounds roughly half an hour later, and most of the group stopped to admire the beauty. The whole area looked like a garden, with beautiful flowers growing everywhere.

Wasting no time, Raine ran up the steps toward the entrance.

"Marvelous! So this is the Tower of Mana…built to gaze upon the Tower of Salvation! I simply must go inside!"

With that she unlocked the door, and the group went in. Once inside they looked around in awe. The walls were lined with shelves, which were covered in more books than could be imagined.

"Ohh! Just think of all the knowledge contained within those books!" Raine said with a sigh, and began skimming over the titles.

"Hey, it's the Oracle Stone!" Lloyd said as he looked at a pedestal in the middle of the room. In front of that was a strange device on the floor. There were three circles connected by wires and several long strips of metal.

"What is that?" Genis asked, standing in front of the device.

"A magic circle?" Lloyd offered.

"Well yeah, but what's it for?"

"Maybe it has something to do with opening the doors." Crystal said, standing in front of a sealed-off doorway. Raising a hand to the cold stone in her path, she tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.

"There must be something about that platform that controls the doors. Colette, why don't you put your hand on the Oracle Stone and we'll see what happens."

"Okay!"

Once she had done so, the three circles on the floor lit up.

"Great, it didn't do anything!" Lloyd complained.

"Yes, it did. Go stand on that platform. Genis, go stand on the second one." Raine instructed as she went to stand on the remaining platform. As they did so, one of the doors opened. They quickly closed, however, when Lloyd stepped off the platform.

"Hey, it closed!"

"That means that three people have to stay behind to keep the door open while the others go further in. Lloyd, choose three people other than Colette to remain here."

As Lloyd considered who to leave behind he heard Raine quietly talking to herself.

"The Tower of Mana… I would love to study it…"

That made her the number one person to leave behind, in Lloyd's opinion. He couldn't have someone accompany them if they were only focused on studying the tower. It wouldn't be safe.

Next he considered Kratos. No, Kratos had to come. He was the best fighter the group had, so there was no way he could be left to guard the door.

With Raine staying behind, he needed a healer, so that left Lilly.

With his decision made, he turned to the group.

"Alright. Professor, Genis and Crystal, I need you to stay behind. Kratos and Lilly, you'll come with Colette and me, okay?"

The two nodded, and the other three took up position on the platform. When the door opened again, the Lloyd and the others set off.

As they moved through the next hallway they found a long stairway and began to climb. Lloyd and Colette led the way, chatting easily and seemingly oblivious to any tension between the two behind them.

Kratos and Lilly walked a few steps behind them, neither speaking. Kratos cast a sideways glance at Lilly, and found her to be staring straight ahead with a hard look in her eyes.

At one point she tripped on a cracked step and Kratos reached out to steady her.

"Thank you." She whispered, not even bothering to look at him.

With an almost inaudible sigh, Kratos stared straight ahead and focused on watching the children in front of him.

0~0~0~0~0~0

When Kratos released her arm, Lilly sighed. She knew she was being cold, that she should be understanding about him keeping the truth a secret. But she still felt a twinge of disappointment when she thought about it.

But was that really any different than her keeping her true bloodline a secret? She did it to protect herself, much like he probably did. She knew what it was like when people knew the truth about her, and it wasn't pretty. She could only assume that the same held true for Kratos.

She was being unfair.

Of course, knowing that didn't make it any easier. She knew that she had to talk to Kratos, but just like last time she was afraid. Shaking her head slightly, she couldn't help but wonder how she always got into such messes.

She could only hope that Kratos would be as understanding as he was last time.


	11. Chapter 11

**I am SO sorry for the lateness of this chapter! Really, truly, hanging-head-in-shame sorry! **

**On a related tppic, I may not be able to update terribly often anymore, starting in April. I'll be attending classes at my local cosmetology institute, and thus have little time for writing. Fear not, though-I still fully intend to finish this story, as well as the sequel which is already in my head.**

**Chapter Eleven**

"Did you know that Kratos was an angel the whole time?"

Raine, Crystal and Genis were sitting on their circles, with little to do, so Raine decided it was a good time to question Crystal about her knowledge of Kratos.

"Yes, I did."

"Why didn't you say anything? Did you not think it was something we should know?"

"It was not my place to reveal that information. And I didn't know how you would react to it, so I certainly wasn't going to put Kratos' position in jeopardy." Crystal answered simply.

"Yeah, come on, Raine. You wouldn't tell her about Lilly, so it's no different. She was protecting him. You can't blame her for that. Especially since they're related." Genis put in.

Lloyd had been the one who told Crystal about Lilly, actually. Lilly was worried about it at first but Crystal didn't seem to care, so she relaxed.

Raine frowned. She didn't like this new development. She felt that Kratos and Crystal not revealing Kratos' angelic status was a betrayal, if only a small one. It certainly wasn't as though they announced that they were working for the enemy, though of course they had already been down that road with Crystal.

She had been suspicious of Kratos from the beginning but held her tongue, and this only served to justify her feelings in her mind.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Man, why does this staircase have to be so long?"

"Complaining isn't going to make it any shorter, you know."

They had only been walking up the stairs for five minutes, and already Lloyd was complaining? That didn't bode well for the rest of their time in the Tower.

The four continued on in silence for several minutes, until Lloyd and Colette started talking quietly. Lilly couldn't make out what they were saying, but she didn't really care-at least Lloyd wasn't complaining.

After what felt like an hour, they finally reached the top of the stairs. An arched doorway led them into a large room with mirrors lining the walls. The room was in a backward 'L' shaped configuration, with a stone door at the end and heavy red curtain on the far left wall.

Lloyd ran to the door and tried to open it, but found it locked.

Colette ran to the curtain and pushed it aside, hoping to see outside. Instead, she was nearly blinded by light.

"Wow! It's really, really bright!" She said, giggling like only she could. Lloyd and Lilly rolled their eyes at her behavior, while Kratos sighed and turned to one of the mirrors.

When Colette uncovered the light it shone directly into the mirror across the room, and as Kratos turned it, he was able to direct the light to bounce to another mirror.

"I see. We have to line up the mirrors to reflect the light all the way to the end." Lilly realized, then began helping Kratos adjust them.

Once they were done, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the room as the door slowly slid open. The group continued on into another room where an unusual apparatus, similar to the one on the main floor, was located.

"What's this thing?" Lloyd questioned, stepping closer to it.

"It looks like this seal requires intelligence and joint-cooperation. It separates them so that they have to rely on themselves even when they aren't together." Lilly said, studying the device.

"How did you figure that out?"

"Because it says so right here."

"Really?"

"No."

"Hey!" Lloyd protested, and Colette giggled.

"Anyway, this looks like the device we saw downstairs, right? They must be connected in some fashion. Perhaps by standing on this platform I can talk to Raine and the others."

"Oh, cool! Let me try!" Lloyd said, moving to stand on the platform.

Lloyd! I said 'perhaps'! What would you have done if that thing had killed you?"

"Um… feel really stupid?"

"Seeing as you would be dead, you'd feel nothing."

"Good point."

"Now, get off of that for a minute. I need to make some adjustments to this thing so it'll transmit." Lilly said, pressing some buttons on the console beside the platform.

"You know how to work that thing?"

"Yeah. I learned a lot of stuff during my travels, before I ended up in Iselia. This is pretty easy, actually. There, I'm done."

Lilly stepped on the platform this time, turning the console to face her as she did so. She pressed one last button, and the screen changed, showing the device on the main floor.

"Hey, what's that?" Genis' voice was heard through the screen.

"Genis, can you hear me?"

"Lilly? Yeah. Are you talking through that thing?"

"Yes, it's a communication device, among other things. The second door should have opened down there. Did it?"

"Yes, it did. Does that mean we can go?"

"I think so. Hold on, let me take a look around…" Lilly trailed off, then pressed a button on the device that changed the view on the screen. She was looking over the room, finally settling on the door.

"Okay, looks good. Go ahead and step off the platforms." She instructed, and after a moment they did so. Lilly then turned the camera back to them, then to the door that had just opened, and finally to the door that she and the others had gone through.

"Okay, you're good to go. See you in a few."

She pressed another button and the screen went dark, and she stepped off the platform.

"It appears we will have to wait for the others to proceed further into the tower before we can continue." Kratos said, speaking for the first time in several minutes.

That was when Lilly noticed that the room was divided into several platforms, creating gaps in their path. It looked as though there was supposed to be a bridge of some sort between the platforms, but at the moment there was none.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Raine had assumed the position of 'leader' once Lloyd and the others left, though Crystal was fairly certain that she had always considered herself as such, at least in her own mind.

After speaking with Lilly and being told to proceed, the group gratefully left the magic circles behind and went through the newly-opened door. The room beyond was large, in an 'L' shape and filled with mirrors. There was a door at the end of the room, which Crystal found locked, and a heavy red curtain on one wall.

Genis moved to look out the window behind the curtain, but instead was blinded by light.

"Ah!" He cried, moving away and letting the drapery fall back in place. Raine studied the curtain for a moment from her place by the door, then turned to look at the mirror directly across from it.

"Genis, move that curtain again."

"What? No way, I don't want to get blinded again!"

"So don't look into the light, genius." Crystal told him, and he scowled but did as he was told. Keeping his eyes averted from the light, he brushed the curtain aside and watched as the light reflected into the mirror Raine had been studying.

"Cool. So then if you move this mirror like this," Crystal said, tilting the mirror so that it bounced the beam into another mirror, "you can bounce the light all the way down the line. Maybe that's what we need to do to open the door."

So they adjusted all the mirrors, and once that was done the door slid open, allowing them to proceed. The next room was large but empty, and they quickly passed through. The following room was much the same, but for one difference; bookcases lined the walls, full of books.

"Wow…" Crystal breathed, "How many books does this place have?"

"I would love to study them. We must return here after our journey is over!" Raine added, eyeing the books hungrily.

As they moved further into the tower, they reached a room that was much like the first one they had seen after leaving the foyer. Full of mirrors, L-shaped layout, red curtain… it was nearly identical.

There was one exception, however—the ceiling was much higher, and there were several platforms at roughly ceiling height, attached to the walls but not each other.

"What are those for?" Genis wondered, but before anyone could answer they heard a voice.

"Genis, Professor, you made it!"

"Lloyd? What are you doing up there?"

"We're all here. This is where the path we took led us."

"You have to move that curtain and turn the mirrors!" Colette called out helpfully, her head appearing beside Lloyd's.

"We know, Colette. We saw this in another room." Crystal answered as Genis moved to the curtain and she and Raine began turning the mirrors. Within a few moments they were finished, and the door opened. At the same time bridges made of light appeared between the platforms, connecting them.

"Are these things safe?" Lilly questioned, cautiously pressing a foot against the light. It held her weight and didn't even sway, and after testing it a moment longer she stepped further onto it.

"Okay, let's go. There must be a way for our paths to meet somewhere up ahead."

So the groups continued on. Lloyd's group crossed the platforms and headed to the next room, which leaded to another staircase, this one even longer than the last.

"Ah, not another one…" Lloyd sighed.

"Come on, Lloyd. Maybe this will lead to the top of the tower and we can finally get this over with." Lilly encouraged.

"Yeah, come on, Lloyd! It can't be that far now!" Colette added.

At the top of the stairs they found another arched doorway, which led them into a large room with a device similar to the one they had seen before, as well as a locked door. Lilly pressed a few buttons on the console next to it, them studied the words that filled the screen in silence for a few moments before turning to Lloyd.

"Hey, stand on that platform." She instructed, pointing to one of the magic circles while she stepped onto the other one. As soon as they were both on it, it lit up, and the door opened. When they walked through the doorway they found Raine and the others in the next room.

"Hey, guys!" Lloyd greeted, and once they were together again they headed to the next room which housed yet another set of stairs. They trudged up the stairs in silence, tired from all the walking, but as they neared the top Raine spoke.

"We should take a break here. This should be the top floor, where the altar is, so we should rest before we continue."

"That's a good idea. There should be a guardian at this seal just like the last one, right? We definitely need to rest up before we go up against it." Lilly agreed.

So they stopped to rest at the top of the stairs.

**Okay, I know this was short, and I'm sorry. You know how much I hate short chapters. I wanted this to end exactly where it did, however, and I really couldn't squeeze in any more details.**

**And I know that the Tower of Mana didn't really happen exactly like I wrote it. I just wanted to make it more interactive, and a bit more time consuming. Besides, this felt more realistic to me. What do you think? Let me know what you liked, hated, etc.**

**As always, thanks for reading! I've gotten so much positive feedback on this story that I'm practically glowing! You guys are all awesome! You totally make my day!  
**


	12. Chapter 12

"We should get ready to go."

It was Kratos who spoke the words. Lloyd and Genis protested, saying that it had only been ten minutes, but they were ignored. Raine agreed that they should go, as did Crystal and Colette, but Lilly remained silent.

"Lilly?"

Lilly looked up then, blinking a few times.

"Yes?"

"Kratos said we should be going." Colette told her. Lilly looked up at Kratos in silence for a long moment, then turned away and nodded.

"Yeah, let's do it."

Being at the top of the stairs, Kratos was the first to reach the door, and opened it slowly. After being in the dark stairwell, it took a few moments for everyone's eyes to adjust to the bright sun, but once they could see they took a look around.

The top of the tower opened up to a huge platform, nearly the size of a large field, lined with pillars and sculptures. At the opposite end from the door was the altar, and before that were three sleeping beasts.

"What are they?" Lloyd wondered.

"The big one looks like a horse!" Colette put in.

"It's an Iubaris," Raine clarified, "and the smaller beasts appear to be chimeras."

As the group approached the altar, the beasts didn't stir.

"Shouldn't they be waking up?"

"It's said that the guardians will sleep until they detect the presence of the Chosen." Kratos explained.

"But Colette is already here. Why don't they realize it?"

"Perhaps their senses are not so finely attuned when they're asleep."

"That means we have a chance to observe them without disturbing them. Colette, stay back here for a moment, will you? This is a wonderful chance to study the beasts." Raine put in.

"Raine, we don't have time for that now!" Crystal objected.

"Quiet, you."

"Professor, she's right. We need to get this over with so we can break the seal." Lloyd added.

With a heavy sigh, Raine conceded the point and allowed Colette to continue forward.

When they were mere feet away from the beasts, they began to stir. The Iubaris was the first to arrive at full wakefulness. It stood and shook itself and turned to look at the group before it, stretching its massive yellow paws and swinging its tail slowly.

"It doesn't seem too happy with us right now." Lloyd said quietly.

"We're intruding on its home, Lloyd. Would you be happy if you woke to strangers staring down at you while you slept?" Crystal whispered back.

"Guess not."

The chimeras stood behind the large beast, almost as though it was their protector, and growled at Lloyd and the others.

"Alright, time to get this started." Lloyd said, drawing his sword and charging at the chimera closest to him. Before he even reached it he was knocked back by the Iubaris.

"Lloyd, be careful! We need to create a diversion for the Iubaris before you attack the chimera!" Raine told him as she helped him to his feet.

"What kind of diversion?"

"Something like this." Lilly said, nocking an arrow into her bow. She aimed at the Iubaris' left shoulder and released the arrow, and the beast howled when it pierced his skin.

"Nice one!" Lloyd shouted as he raced forward again, this time reaching the chimera. He swung his sword in a low circle, catching one of the smaller beast's paws. It hissed in pain and recoiled, then spun sharply and caught Lloyd with its tail, sending him to the ground once more.

The Iubaris leapt into the air and landed right in front of him, growling lowly in his face. It drew its head back, and was about to snap at him when Kratos and Crystal drove their swords into its side.

Lloyd scrambled to his feet and readied his sword, when a yelp from the second chimera echoed through the air.

Colette had inadvertently stepped on its tail.

"I'm so sorry, little one!"

"Colette, don't apologize! You're trying to kill it!" Lilly said as she jumped to dodge the Iubaris' tail as it swung in her and Genis' direction.

"Oh, you're right!"

With the chimera distracted by its aching tail, Crystal took the opportunity to slip around behind it and dig her sword into its side, and when it recoiled she slammed another one into it's chest.

It fell to the ground, unmoving.

Lloyd and Kratos were carefully circumventing the other chimera's attempts to attack with one paw, and watching the two of them go different directions proved to be difficult for the beast. Lloyd quickly jumped behind it and jabbed it with the tip of his sword, and when it turned to him Kratos directed his sword at its neck.

A loud 'shing' filled the air as his blade neatly decapitated the beast.

As everyone turned their attention to the Iubaris, it suddenly leapt into the air again, this time spreading its wings in flight.  
It soared above everyone's heads, high enough that they couldn't reach it. Crystal and Lloyd were useless at that moment, but everyone else immediately began chanting incantations for various spells while Lilly prepared another arrow.

Lilly released her arrow before the others were ready, and it tore through one of the Iubaris' wings. That wasn't enough to make it earthbound however, so she immediately prepared another one. By the time she was ready to release it, the others had finished chanting, and they executed their attacks at the same time.

The result was one waterlogged, burnt beast with shredded wings. It fell to the ground heavily; too weak to get up or even lift its head. Kratos and Crystal lifted their swords in preparation for the killing blow.

"Wait!"

"Colette, what are you doing?"

"Do we really have to kill it? I mean, it's harmless now, right? Can't we just leave it be?"

"The whole point of fighting that thing was to kill it, Colette. You have to do that in order to break the seal." Genis pointed out.

"I-I know, but-"

As Colette watched the beast lying before her, her eyes filled with tears.

"Why did it have to be chosen to be the guardian? It was born to die! That isn't fair! We can't kill it now!" She sobbed.

"Even if we didn't kill it, we would still have to leave it injured," Crystal put in, "If we healed it, it would only attack us again. Would you rather leave it in this weakened state?"

"No, I suppose you're right. But do you have to kill it like that? Isn't there a nicer way?"

"You're too soft, Colette." Lilly said, putting a hand on the young girl's shoulder. With a sigh she turned to study the creature a moment, then shook her head and looked back to Colette.

"I can take away its' mana, if you prefer. That would kill it, as long as I removed every last bit in its body. Would that be better than stabbing it?"

"If you take away its mana, it wouldn't bleed all over, right?"

Colette's question made Lilly look at the floor. She'd been too preoccupied during the battle to notice, but the ground was soaked in blood. There was also blood splattered on everyone's clothing.

"That's right. It's just like when I heal someone, like Marble, only I'd be doing it in reverse."

"O-okay, then. That's a better way."

Lilly wasn't sure why Colette was so concerned with the beast's blood loss, but she shrugged it off. Not her concern.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Lilly pulled away from Colette and stepped closer to the Iubaris, sharing a look with Kratos, who still had his sword at the beast's neck.

"Are you sure about this?" He questioned, not comfortable with the look in her eyes. He knew that what she was about to do would be difficult, both for her and the Iubaris.

"I have to be."

Kratos studied her for a moment, then nodded and stepped aside. He kept his sword ready as Lilly knelt beside the beast, staying close in case something went wrong.

Lilly breathed a deep, shuddering sigh, and spoke without looking up.

"Raine, Genis, you may want to step back. If you're very sensitive to mana, this could be painful for you."

The shuffling of feet could be heard as the two elves stepped back, and then there was silence.

The air was still as all eyes fell on Lilly and the Iubaris, no one sure quite what to expect. Lilly reached out a trembling hand and gently laid it on the beast's side, ignoring the blood that matted its once-yellow fur.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, then lowered her head. Much like the time she healed Marble, a light flowed from her hand and surrounded the creature, only this time the light was black. Very black.

It was darker than smoke, than charcoal, so heavy it couldn't be seen through. It enveloped the beast so completely that no one could see it, and seemed to pull something away from him.

The beast shuddered and convulsed, making Colette sob all the more. Everyone was quiet during the event, and Lilly's hand trembled heavily.

The air remained still as Lilly worked, as though even the wind knew not to interrupt the moment. After a few minutes the dark light pulled away from the Iubaris and surrounded Lilly, then began floating upward and finally dissipated several feet above everyone's heads.

"It's done." Lilly sighed, exhausted. She sat there for several moments, not moving an inch until finally she stood.

"It's done." She said again as she looked to Colette, who was still crying.

Kratos studied Lilly as she stood there, seeing a mix of emotions in her eyes that he hadn't expected—sadness, regret and even anger were reflected there, but even with all that, there was a deep emptiness in her eyes, as though something had been taken away and an empty shell was left in its place.

"Let's get out of here." Lloyd murmured, turning to the door.

"We have to wait for Remiel, Lloyd. Colette has to pray." Genis reminded him quietly.

Colette took a shaky breath and wiped away all traces of her tears. Lloyd helped her to her feet, and she stepped up to the altar.

"Oh Goddess Martel, nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength."

Her voice cracked as she prayed, and she held back a sob as she spread her wings and flew into the air. Now it was a matter of waiting.

Fortunately they didn't have to wait long. A white light shined above the altar, and Remiel appeared moments later. He looked around the space briefly, taking in the blood and bodies with a frown. Then he looked to Colette with a forced smile.

"You have done well in reaching this far, my daughter."

"T-thank you, Father."

"You will travel to the south, where the next seal gazes upon the sea. Offer your prayers in that distant land."

"Yes, L-Lord Remiel."

"You seem displeased, my child."

"No, I'm very happy."

"Hm. I will now bestow upon you a gift from the Goddess Martel. Hurry and become a true angel. Do not disappoint me, my daughter."

Then Remiel disappeared, as a soft blue and pink light surrounded Colette. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, wings fluttering slightly as she folded them against her back without putting them away.

"Now we can go." She said quietly.

The group headed for the stairs without looking back, descending them in silence.


	13. Chapter 13

Out in the front hall of the tower, they paused for a few minutes to rest before continuing on.

"Colette, are you okay?" Genis asked as he and Lloyd sat beside her.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry to worry you, but I'm really okay."

"Really? 'Cause if you're not, it's okay to say so." Lloyd put in.

"I know. But I'm fine. Really."

Neither Lloyd nor Genis believed her, but they decided not to press the issue. They sat quietly, Lloyd looking over to where Crystal and Raine sat by one of the room's many bookshelves.

"When our journey is over, I'd like to get permission from the priest in Luin to borrow some of these books," Raine said.  
Crystal couldn't believe that Raine could be thinking of books and research at such a time, but shook the thought aside and picked up the conversation.

"I'm sure you could have anything you wanted, being a friend of the Chosen and all."

"Are you suggesting I should use her title to receive special treatment?"

"No, of course not. But I wouldn't be surprised if people treated you differently if they knew who you were."

"Hm, perhaps. But I'd rather seek permission without using Colette's status."

"I'm sure you would."

"Just think of all the knowledge contained within these walls…" Raine sighed wistfully.

"I wonder if there's any information on this healing ability Lilly has." Crystal put in, looking over to where the blonde healer sat, alone but not far from the group. Kratos sat by himself as well, but not far from Lilly's position.

"She's still angry, isn't she?" Crystal sighed.

"I believe so. But can you blame her? He did lie to her, to all of us."

"Well, yeah, but I would have thought she of all people would understand what he did."

"Because she's a quarter-blood?" Raine questioned, and Crystal nodded.

"Yeah. She has to hide who she really is, too. It's not that different."

"Yes, that's true. Perhaps she will come to realize that in time, and forgive him."

"And maybe you could do the same thing. You're still angry, too."

Raine didn't answer that. She knew Crystal was right, that she was angry. She felt that she had a right to be, though—she was the group's sole protector besides Kratos, and she knew nothing about the man. For all she knew, she should be protecting them from him as well.

The circumstances of his arrival and hiring were suspicious too. He just happened to be in the area at a time when the children were in danger? That was too convenient for Raine's liking.

"Crystal, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"You know the day you attacked Colette and the others at the Martel Temple back in Iselia? Why did you retreat when Kratos arrived?"

"That's simple. We were outmatched. When it was just the kids we knew we could handle it, but then Kratos came and we weren't prepared. He injured Aaron and Saul greatly, killed Vidar and would've killed me. We weren't sticking around after that."

"That makes sense I guess. But Genis said it seemed as though your leader knew Kratos, said something about not expecting him to show up."

Crystal hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"They must have encountered him before. I tried to ask about it when we got back to the base, but they wouldn't tell me anything."

"Secrets within your ranks? Not surprising among the Desians."

"Y-yeah, exactly."

"Hm. Well, we'll be heading back to Luin after we leave here. Are you prepared for that? You'll likely encounter your family there again."

Crystal breathed a sigh of relief when Raine changed the subject. She was glad that she didn't have to answer anymore questions about Kratos or her association with the 'Desians'.

"I know that I'll probably see them again. It's unavoidable. I just hope that this time will be different. That's all I can do right now."

Raine was about to say something else when suddenly there was a loud crashing sound from outside.

"What was that?" Colette wondered. Lilly stood and picked up her bow.

"Wait here—I'll check it out."  
She moved toward the door silently, nocking an arrow into her bow as she went. Kratos followed close behind. When they reached the open doorway, Lilly stopped so suddenly that Kratos nearly ran into her.

"What the…?"

"What is it?"

"It's a group of Desian soldiers. They're fighting a wolf."

"A wolf?"

"Yeah, but not a normal one. This one is different."

Everyone stood and went to the door, staring in wonder at the scene before them. The wolf was indeed unlike anything they had seen before. Its fur was mostly white, but dusty blue around its neck and feet. It was also covered in jewels, in various shades of blues and greens.

Noishe was also nearby, hovering in a nearby alcove.

As it fought the soldiers, one of them dug a spear into the wolf's leg, and it let out a yelp. A very human-sounding yelp.

"What-? It can talk?!"

"We have to help it!" Colette cried. No one argued.

When they joined the fight, the soldiers were outnumbered and defeated easily. Once the fight was over, the wolf fell to the ground, panting heavily.

Noishe moved forward once the fight was over, gently nudging the wolf with his nose. He began licking some of its wounds as well, until Lloyd pulled him away.

"Professor Sage, can you heal it?"

Raine stepped forward and did so without hesitation, and the wolf pulled itself to its feet.

"I thank you for your assistance. Without it I fear I would not have survived this battle. Now I must depart. Please excuse me."

"Wait a minute! You're in no condition to travel on your own. You're still weak! You need to rest." Lloyd protested.

"I am fine, I assure you. I must go."

"Ugh! You're so stubborn. Sit down for a minute and catch your breath."

The wolf tried to take a step forward but its leg gave out, and it fell to the ground with a sharp cry.

"See? You need to rest."

"You make a compelling argument."

"Does that mean you'll stay?"

The wolf didn't answer right away. Instead, it took a few steps away from the group and sat down. A light grey smoke enveloped it for a moment, and when it faded the wolf was gone, and in its place was a woman.

Hazel eyes peered out from beneath a fringe of dusty blue hair. She was dressed in the manner of a traveler, with tan pants and a billowy white shirt. At her side was a small leather satchel. Silver earrings adorned her ears, and she wore a silver necklace with an aqua stone on the end.

"Whoa! How'd you do that?"

"That is a trade secret."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind. I thank you for your offer of shelter. My name is Noellanni Ryce. I'm a Tracker."

"A Tracker? What's that?"

"I suppose the best definition would be that I am a hunter."

"What do you hunt?"

"Whatever I'm asked to."

Seeing that Noellanni would say nothing more, Lloyd shrugged.

"Okay, well, you're gonna stay here now, right?"

"Yes, I will stay for a time."

"We should set up camp then, right? It's getting late anyway, so we won't be able to travel tonight." Genis spoke up.

"That's right." Raine agreed. Then she turned to Colette.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Professor. Can I help set up camp?"

"I would rather you rested, but I suppose a bit of activity won't be too harmful. You and Lloyd can gather wood for the fire."

So the two set off to complete their task with Noishe following close behind, while the others set up sleeping bags and prepared for the evening meal.

"Hey, Lloyd! I found a really big one!"

"I think that one's a little too big to put on the fire, Colette."

Lloyd and Colette had gathered a fairly large pile of sticks. Lloyd was ready to haul them back, but Colette insisted they get 'just a few more'.

"Oh, you're right. Hey, look at this log! It's big enough to hide in!"

"Cool! It's just like that one Dad brought home for us to play with when we were kids."

"Yeah! Didn't he hook a cart up to Noishe and have him pull it?"

"Yeah. That's the only time he ever pulled anything that big, and he sure complained about it."

Colette laughed and went to pet Noishe, who had been chasing a squirrel.

"Come on, Noishe, help me find some sticks."

She turned to go pick up a stick not far from where she stood, but her step faltered and she got dizzy. Lloyd was at her side in an instant.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just got dizzy for a moment."

She tried to take another step, but this time her leg gave out.

"Ow!"

"Colette!" Lloyd caught her before she hit the ground, and helped her to sit down.

"Here, just rest a little, okay?"

"Okay."

"Professor! Colette collapsed!"

Lilly and Raine had just finished setting up the sleeping bags, Genis was prepping the ingredients for dinner and Kratos and Crystal were walking the far side of their campsite when Lloyd's shout filled the air.

"What?! Where is she?"

"She's in the forest! She wanted to get more sticks, and-"

"Show me!"

So Lloyd led Raine, Lilly and Kratos to Colette while the others stayed behind. They returned a few moments later, Colette riding Noishe.

"Is she okay?" Crystal asked as they approached, and Lilly nodded.

"Nothing more than what we expected. Just a little late this time."

When they reached the camp, Raine insisted that Colette rest. This time the girl didn't argue.

"I don't understand," Noellanni spoke up, "you expected her to collapse?"

"Yes. It just happened later than we thought it would, likely because she had a chance to rest earlier." Lilly explained.  
Noellanni wasn't sure what to make of that, nor just what she was getting into by being involved with these people.

"What strange people you are…"


	14. Chapter 14

"That's so cool! Can you do it again?"

"Lloyd, leave her alone. What did I tell you about parlor tricks?"

"Oh, right. Sorry…"

The children's voices rang with laughter, the day's difficult events temporarily gone from their minds. Lloyd had been following Noellanni around, trying to get her to change to her wolf form and back again until Crystal stopped him.

"Hey, Noellanni?" Genis called from his place over the hot pan of curry rice he was preparing for dinner, and Noellanni padded over and sat beside him, still in wolf form.

"You can just call me Noelle, if you like. Everyone does."

"Okay, Noelle. I was wondering, are there others like you? You said you're a Tracker, but I've never heard of such a thing. Where's your family, your home?"

"My home…? Well, my home is very far from here. I haven't been back in a number of years."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, it's complicated. But as far as my family, I do see them often. We tend to cross paths when we're on a job."

"Are they wolves, too?" Lloyd asked as he and Colette moved to sit by Noelle.

"That's right. All of my family is. But I have a friend who's a snow leopard. Strong and fast, that one. An excellent fighter. He would have easily beaten those soldiers that attacked me by himself."

"What's your family like?" Colette questioned.

"My mother died when I was a baby, so I didn't get the chance to know her. My father is the best Tracker there is. Very strong, very proud. My brother is more playful. He likes to have fun. But he takes his jobs seriously, and he's the most loyal guy you'll ever meet."

By this time everyone was listening to Noelle. Genis had stopped stirring the rice until smoke wafted up and nearly choked him, and Raine put down the book she had been reading and moved a little closer. Kratos, who had been sitting at the edge of camp, moved slightly closer and sat beside Noishe, and Lilly put away the papers she had been looking through.

"Hey, dinner's ready!" Genis announced, dishing up plates.

Everyone ate in relative silence, with only a few questions from Lloyd to Noelle and an occasional comment from Colette.  
When the meal was over, Crystal volunteered to wash the dishes, and took them to a nearby stream. While she was gone everyone went back to what they had been doing before, with exception to Kratos, who insisted he and Lloyd train.

"Can't we do it tomorrow?" Lloyd whined, and much to his surprise Kratos moved to put away his sword.

"If you wish. You will meet me on the training grounds at 4:00 am."

"What?! Eh, no, that's okay. Tonight's fine, really!"

"Very well. Retrieve your sword."

"They have a training ground?" Noelle questioned as she watched Lloyd slump after Kratos.

"All that really means is that they train wherever they happen to have a wide enough clearing away from camp." Genis explained.

"I see."

"We're returning to Luin tomorrow. We have to return the key to the priest before we leave the area. After that I think we're heading to Asgard. Do you know of any seals near there?"

"No, I don't remember there being any."

Beside the stream where she was washing the dinner dishes, Crystal had met with Yuan. She knew she was far enough away from the camp to be overheard, even with Kratos' angelic hearing, and she also knew that if anyone came looking for her, Yuan would hear them in time to leave before being discovered.

"What do you know of the water seal? That's where Remiel told us to go next. Any idea where that is?"

"I believe the water seal is inside the Thoda Geyser."

"You mean we have to go back there? Great, now how am I gonna get them to do that?"

"You don't have to suggest it at all. Just wait and see what happens—maybe they'll figure it out on their own."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Well, I better get back before they come looking for me. We should be in Asgard in three days. I'll have an update for you then."

"Very well."

Yuan left then, and Crystal gathered up the dishes and prepared to head back. By the time she arrived, Raine had already sent the children to bed, and was preparing to retire herself.

Lilly was still reading a book, Kratos was sitting by Noishe and Noelle had curled up by the fire, still in wolf form. Crystal was putting the pans away when she saw a shadow looming over her from behind.

"You should not stay out so late next time."

It was Kratos.

"I know. Washing the pans took a little longer than I expected. I'm sorry."

"Perhaps next time you should ask for assistance."

"I don't want to bother anyone. I'll just work harder next time." Crystal insisted, and Kratos nodded.

"Very well. Professor Sage will no doubt be pleased to hear that. She nearly went looking for you tonight."

"Nearly?"

"Yes. She was about to, until I told her that you wanted some time to yourself."

Kratos turned to walk away then, but paused and looked back.

"Do not make me lie for you again."

Crystal watched in silence as he walked back to his place by Noishe, hardly believing what she was hearing. He had known what she was really doing? And he was covering for her?

Somehow, that didn't sound like Kratos at all.

After all, he still didn't really know her. All he really knew was that she was related to him somehow, and she had been working for the enemy. But that brought up a new question.

Did he know which enemy?

Surely he would know that she wasn't a Desian, but why would he be covering for her if he knew she was working for the Renegades? It didn't make sense.

Crystal didn't know what to think about any of it. She only knew that she should take advantage of the situation, albeit carefully. It was her job. She couldn't turn her back on Yuan, not after he'd trusted her enough to tell her the truth about Martel and Cruxis.

But that thought did nothing to ease the hurt she felt at the thought of working against Kratos. He was the only family she really had, the only true family member that accepted her. She couldn't turn her back on him either.

But how could she serve them both?


End file.
